When creating molecular presentations or explanatory animations, one common challenge is drawing attention to specific structures or events at the right time — and just for as long as needed. If you need to show a particular conformation, highlight a docking result, or simply emphasize something briefly without fading effects or permanent visibility, Flash might be exactly what you’re looking for.
The Flash animation in SAMSON is designed to make elements of your molecular model appear and then disappear at specific moments in your timeline. Unlike transparency-based effects, Flash toggles the actual visibility of nodes, making it ideal for simple visual highlighting without artifacts.
When Flash Makes Sense
Imagine you are comparing different ligand binding events and want to demonstrate how a particular chemical group enters the binding pocket. You want the group to appear just before the interaction and disappear immediately after. Flash keeps your timeline clean and your viewers focused.
How It Works
The Flash animation in SAMSON consists of four keyframes:
- Keyframes 1 to 2: nodes are hidden.
- At Keyframe 2: nodes become visible.
- Keyframes 2 to 3: nodes stay visible.
- At Keyframe 3: nodes become hidden again.
- Keyframes 3 to 4: nodes remain hidden.
To add this animation, simply select the nodes you want to flash, then double-click on the Flash animation effect in the Animation panel. You can rearrange the keyframes in your timeline to match your presentation’s rhythm.
Customizing the Flash
It’s also possible to fine-tune how your nodes flash by adjusting the easing curve — a powerful way to control how quickly nodes transition from invisible to visible and vice versa. This can be especially helpful in creating smooth transitions or dramatic emphasis where necessary.
Why Flash Rather Than Other Visibility Tools?
SAMSON provides several visibility animation effects, such as Appear, Disappear, and Show. While these allow gradual or conditional visibility changes, Flash gives you precise control over exact frames where something should pop into view and then be gone. For quick emphasis — like showing where an ion fits in the channel structure, or where a conformational switch occurs — Flash is an excellent choice.
It’s minimal, fast, and easy to use.
To learn more about the Flash animation in SAMSON, visit the full documentation page here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/flash/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.