When you’re presenting molecular systems, subtle camera moves can greatly improve clarity and impact. One of the most useful techniques to highlight structures, especially in walkthroughs or comparative views, is a smooth horizontal camera sweep. SAMSON provides a dedicated tool for this: the Truck camera animation.
For many molecular modelers, manually adjusting the camera from two different angles and trying to maintain a consistent viewpoint is both time-consuming and error-prone. The Truck camera animation solves this by letting you shift the view horizontally between two frames, keeping the camera’s direction unified throughout. This results in a polished movement between frames that helps your audience follow what’s happening without disorientation.
What Is the Truck Camera Animation?
The Truck camera animation in SAMSON mimics a camera trucking shot—a lateral move of the entire frame. It works by shifting both the camera’s position and its target point by the same horizontal offset, relative to the camera’s frame of reference.
This is especially useful when comparing two sections of a large molecular system without changing orientation. Instead of rotating, the camera slides horizontally—ideal when you’re showing elongated systems like polymers, lipid bilayers, or tube-like protein assemblies.
Getting Started
Here’s how to use the Truck camera animation in SAMSON:
- Go to the Animator’s Track view and pick your start frame.
- Manually set the camera’s orientation to your desired start view.
- In the Animation panel, double-click on the Truck camera animation.
- SAMSON will automatically use the current camera’s target and position as the starting point, then create an offset horizontally to the right for the ending frame.
- You can now set the end frame and fine-tune the distance or timing as needed by adjusting the animation properties.
This simple process ensures that your camera glides smoothly across the view without a jarring angle change. And you’re not locked in—both start and end frames are editable, so you can always tweak placement afterward.
Customizing the Move
SAMSON lets you further fine-tune the feel of the animation using easing curves. These define how the camera accelerates and decelerates between frames. To adjust this, just inspect the animation and open the Easing curve settings. For example, a smooth-in and smooth-out easing works well for a professional look.
You can also choose whether the animation applies to the active camera or another, and specify behavior based on whether the background grid is enabled. If Keep camera upwards is active, the animation will align with the current grid orientation.
Tip: Camera Adjustments
Even after placing the animation, you can adjust the target points and positions using the animation controllers. However, with the Truck camera animation, some limitations might apply, so edits should be precise to maintain the horizontal motion effect.
Use Cases
This type of animation is particularly effective when:
- Showing comparisons across branches of a macromolecule.
- Exploring membrane surface distributions.
- Scanning long chains or nanotubes without rotating out of plane.
In sum, mastering this simple animation can significantly improve the clarity of your molecular presentations—and takes just a few minutes to implement.
To learn more, visit the full documentation page for the Truck camera animation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.