Presenting molecular models effectively requires more than just beautiful visuals—it’s about timing and structure. When you’re showcasing a molecular mechanism, demonstrating a simulation, or teaching a concept, knowing when and where to pause matters as much as the animations themselves. That’s where the Stop animation in SAMSON can make a big difference.
The Problem: Viewers Falling Behind
If you’ve ever shown an animated molecular presentation, you may have noticed that your audience occasionally struggles to keep up—especially when complex structural changes occur or dynamic processes unfold. By the time someone asks a question, the animation is already ten frames ahead.
This makes it hard not only to engage the audience, but also to reinforce learning. Molecular modelers teaching, collaborating, or presenting results often need a way to segment animations into digestible parts—effectively creating slides within a dynamic system.
The Solution: Using the Stop Animation in SAMSON
The Stop animation in SAMSON is designed precisely to help address this common challenge. It halts a presentation at a key frame, letting you pause the flow of time to explain structural features, answer questions, or refocus attention.
Where It Fits In
The Stop animation works seamlessly with the Animator in SAMSON. When triggered during playback, it pauses the sequence at a specific frame until you manually resume it by either pressing the Space key or clicking the Play button in the Animator’s control panel.
How to Add a Stop Animation
Here’s a quick guide on inserting a Stop effect into your timeline:
- Open the Animator in SAMSON.
- Access the Animation panel.
- Double-click on the Stop animation effect—this places a keyframe at your current position in the timeline.
- You can drag the keyframe to reposition the Stop effect as needed.
Note: Like all animation keyframes in SAMSON, Stop effects are fully editable and movable. This flexibility lets you choreograph your presentation to match your explanation pace.
Use Cases: Making Animations Talk
Here are a few practical scenarios where Stop can improve clarity:
- Lecture presentations: Pause to explain structural domains in large biomolecules.
- Team reviews: Stop at key moments to request input or highlight anomalies in simulations.
- Interactive teaching: Let students identify interactions before resuming the motion.
Adding a few well-placed Stop keyframes can turn an overwhelming molecular journey into a guided tour, improving comprehension and engagement at every step.
Conclusion
The Stop animation in SAMSON gives you control over timing in molecular animations, allowing your audience time to absorb, question, and understand what they see. It transforms animations from passive visuals into interactive communication tools.
To learn more, refer to the official Stop animation documentation here.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.