Molecular modelers often need intuitive, clear, and customizable visuals to understand and communicate their nanosystem designs effectively. This is where visual models in SAMSON come into play. They empower you to produce graphical representations that enhance your insight into structures, fields, and other properties of your system.
Visual models are versatile tools for graphical representation. They can depict secondary structures of proteins, surfaces such as electrostatic fields, and even isosurfaces of electron density. For instance, SAMSON provides default visual models but also offers users the flexibility to add more through SAMSON Connect. These models are adaptable to everything from atoms to residues, making them immensely practical.
To apply visual models efficiently, you can:
- Access them through the context toolbar menu of selected nodes
- Use shortcuts (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift+V)
- Navigate via Visualization > Add > Visual model
Customizing visual models is a key feature. For example, the Inspector lets you modify visualization parameters. Simply select a visual model in the Document view, click Inspect in the context menu, and fine-tune your results.
The adaptability of visual models brings a practical edge to molecular selection tasks. Under the current selection filter, you can highlight and select specific parts of a system, such as atoms and residues, directly via visual representations like surfaces. The image below showcases a solvent-excluded surface (SES), illustrating how residues can be effectively highlighted:
Ready to add your personal touch? SAMSON enables developers to create custom visual models via the SAMSON Extension Generator. For detailed guidance, visit the Documentation center to start building unique extensions that suit your exact needs.
By understanding the power of visual models, you gain the ability to represent molecular data with clarity and depth, whether for your own analysis or to communicate discoveries. Interested in learning more about visual models and other tools?
Discover everything you need to know by visiting the full documentation page here: SAMSON visual models documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON for free at SAMSON Connect.