When you’re preparing a molecular presentation—whether for a class, a paper, or a conference—one of the biggest challenges is guiding your audience’s attention. Just like in film, controlling the camera is what allows you to tell a coherent and visually engaging story. This is where SAMSON’s camera animations become key.
SAMSON offers a variety of camera animations that let you highlight crucial stages in a molecular process, zoom into specific residues, orbit around a binding pocket, or even follow an atom’s trajectory. These animations don’t just make your videos more visually appealing—they make your scientific message easier to understand.
Why Use Camera Animations?
A common difficulty in molecular modeling is producing a shareable visual that clearly conveys a spatial and temporal process. Static images or manual camera movements often miss the mark. In contrast, structured camera animations allow for:
- Focus on particular regions of interest (e.g., an active site)
- Smoother transitions between viewpoints
- Synchronization with molecular transformations (like docking or conformational changes)
- More engaging, professional-looking animations
Available Camera Animations in SAMSON
Below is a breakdown of camera animations available in SAMSON, each tailored for different stages in your presentation:
- Orbit camera: Make the camera circle around a molecule, perfect for giving a 360° view of a model.
- Dolly camera: Move the camera closer or further away in a smooth motion.
- Zoom camera: Adjust zoom level while keeping focus fixed.
- Move camera: Pan the camera from one coordinate to another.
- Truck camera: Slide the camera parallel to the view plane.
- Hold camera: Keep the camera static during transitions.
- Rock camera: Mimics a rocking motion to convey dynamics or small oscillations around an object.
- Pedestal camera: Raise or lower the camera along its vertical axis.
How to Access These Animations
In the latest version of SAMSON, all animations are managed via the Animator panel. This panel replaces the older Animation menu and provides an easier and more unified way to set up animations. If you’ve used previous versions, note this change. Each camera animation can be added by right-clicking within the animator timeline and selecting the desired action—no coding required.
Practical Example
Imagine you’re demonstrating a ligand docking into an enzyme. You can begin with a zoom camera animation to draw closer to the binding site, followed by a smooth orbit camera around the complex as the docking proceeds. Then use a pause animation to stop the movement and keep attention fixed for annotation or explanation.
Learn by Watching
If you prefer visual learning, check out the corresponding tutorial video: How to create molecular animations in SAMSON.
Conclusion
Camera animations in SAMSON allow molecular modelers to guide attention, emphasize important details, and share stories in a more structured way. Whether you’re visualizing a simulation result or preparing a teaching video, using these tools can help your molecular movies speak clearly and effectively.
To explore the full list of available animations and learn how to set them up, visit the official SAMSON documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.