For molecular modelers, creating visually compelling animations to present findings can often be a daunting task. Whether you’re preparing to demonstrate the results of a docking procedure, emphasize structural insights, or share a molecular journey with your peers, seamless animations make a significant difference in how your work is perceived. SAMSON, the integrative molecular design platform, simplifies this process by providing a suite of animations tailored to various molecular modeling needs.
What makes SAMSON animations unique?
SAMSON’s animations allow precise control over different objects in your molecular models. You can animate everything from cameras to nodes like structural models, visual elements, meshes, and labels. These features enable users to create complex, polished sequences for presentations, publications, and even cinematic movies of molecular behavior.
Categories of Animations
Animations in SAMSON are categorized for ease of access and specific use cases. These include:
- Motion Animations: Useful for processes like docking and assembling, these animations bring to life the dynamic aspects of molecular interactions.
- Camera Animations: These animations guide your audience’s view with movements like orbiting or paths customized for storytelling.
- Entrance and Exit Effects: Draw attention to your findings with animations such as appearing, showing, disappearing, and hiding.
- Highlighting Effects: For focused emphasis on specific parts of your model, utilize highlighting animations like pulsing effects.
- Other Animations: Options include pausing and stopping presentations, setting backgrounds, and displaying custom slides to enrich your storytelling.
Intuitive Workflow with the Animator Panel
All animations can be effortlessly accessed and controlled via the Animator Panel in SAMSON. Advanced users can also make use of the Animator’s controls for presentation actions, ensuring a streamlined workflow. Note that while some older features, such as the Animation menu, have been replaced, the Animator and its tools now encompass all relevant functionalities, making your animation journey more efficient.
Getting Started with Molecular Animations
Here’s a quick example of how you can utilize animations:
- Want to zoom into the molecular structure for an in-depth look? Use Zoom Camera.
- Need to emphasize how atoms move during a simulation? Try the Move Atoms animation.
- Looking to add cinematic appeal with camera motion? Explore the Orbit Camera animation.
Explore the full list of animations here. Each animation is explained in detail, helping you select the best option for your project.
Learn through a video tutorial
If you are new to SAMSON animations, watch this tutorial video on creating molecular animations. It’s a helpful guide for mastering SAMSON’s animation tools and working efficiently.
Animations can truly elevate how molecular modelers showcase their work, engaging audiences with clear visual narratives and stunning effects. SAMSON has made these tools accessible and easy to use, empowering molecular researchers and educators alike.
To learn more and dive deeper into these features, visit the SAMSON documentation page on animations.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get started today by downloading SAMSON at www.samson-connect.net.