Communicating molecular mechanisms clearly can be a challenge. Whether you’re creating visuals for publications, lectures, or lab meetings, the way you represent the spatial context of your molecules—and how that context changes over time—really matters. This is where camera animations in SAMSON come in.
Camera animations make it possible to guide your audience’s focus, gradually uncover structural relationships, or simply add visual smoothness to your presentations. They help answer questions such as: Where does this ligand bind? How does this assembly come together? How does this enzyme active site look from different angles?
Why it matters
Many molecular modelers spend significant time adjusting viewpoints manually while recording screens or stitching together static frames. This can produce inconsistent results and consume hours of tweaking. SAMSON’s Animator tool removes this overhead by letting you script and preview camera motions interactively.
Types of camera animations
Here’s a quick overview of the different camera motions you can apply with just a few clicks:
- Orbit camera: rotate around a molecular system to provide a global view.
- Move camera: move along a custom-defined path – useful for fly-throughs.
- Follow atoms: keep specific atoms centered as they move.
- Look at atoms: update only the camera’s focus point while staying in place.
- Zoom, dolly, truck, and pedestal moves: fine adjust the camera’s position in or around the molecular system.
- Hold camera: freeze the camera in a specific frame, helpful for scene consistency.
Creating your first camera animation
- Enable the Animator from Interface > Animator.
- Position your camera where you want the animation to start.
- Double-click the desired animation type in the Animation panel.
- Adjust positions using the keyframe controllers shown in the viewport. These specialized camera controls let you fine-tune start/end positions directly in 3D.
When you edit an animation, SAMSON helps you frame your shots by automatically showing thumbnails of the current, previous, and next keyframes. This helps ensure smooth transitions and better storytelling.
Tips for reliable workflow
- To ensure consistent views even when switching between frames, consider adding a Hold camera animation to keyframes with no other camera motions.
- Camera animations only affect the active camera—remember to check which one is being edited.
- You can mix camera animations at the same frame, but be aware they will be applied in order, and the last one overrides the previous ones. Plan accordingly or adjust their ordering in the document view using drag-and-drop.
What it looks like in action
Here’s a walkthrough of setting up an orbit around a protein structure using the Orbit camera animation.
You can combine camera animations with structural effects—for example, zoom in as a ligand docks or orbit around the result of an assembly animation. This makes your movies more engaging and informative.
Export and share
Once you’re satisfied with your animation, you can export the presentation as a video (mp4, gif, or webm) directly from the Animator. Use it in your next talk, post it online, or embed it in an educational module.
To explore more about the Animator and all presentation possibilities in SAMSON, visit the official documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at www.samson-connect.net.