Clarity and visual engagement are key when communicating complex molecular structures and mechanisms. But making your molecular presentations dynamic without overwhelming your audience can be tricky. That’s where the Pulse animation in SAMSON comes in handy.
If you’ve ever wanted to gently draw the viewer’s attention to a part of your model, reveal structures over time, or simply breathe life into static molecular scenes, this subtle animation effect might be exactly what you’re looking for.
Why use Pulse?
Many molecular modelers have rich models – proteins with annotations, visual models, mesh-based force fields or distance measurements – and presenting all this information at once can be overwhelming. The Pulse animation offers a clean, rhythmic way to fade structures in and out, helping you:
- Focus audience attention sequentially
- Create smoother transitions between parts of your presentation
- Add a sense of temporal flow to your scientific narrative
- Emphasize or de-emphasize specific areas of interest
How does it work?
The Pulse animation works best with nodes that support transparency – like structural models, meshes, labels, and more. When added to a scene, it runs through five key frames:
- Keyframe 1–2: Nodes are fully transparent
- Keyframe 2–3: Nodes fade in gradually
- Keyframe 3: Nodes are fully opaque
- Keyframe 3–4: Nodes begin fading out
- Keyframe 4–5: Fade completes and nodes are fully transparent
You can move these keyframes in the Animator to control animation timing, repeat the cycle, or synchronize it with other animations. The pulse effect is very flexible and easily adjustable from both the Animation panel and the Inspector.
Adding the Pulse animation
To apply the Pulse animation in SAMSON:
- Select the nodes you wish to animate (they must support transparency)
- Double-click on the Pulse animation from the Animation panel of the Animator
- Adjust the position of keyframes as needed in the Animation timeline
This approach ensures that only the nodes you choose will pulsate, providing fine control over what the viewer sees and when.
Customize the animation for your presentation style
The Pulse animation comes with editable properties like the Easing curve, which allows you to customize how smoothly transitions occur between keyframes. Whether you want a linear fade or a quick burst and decay, you can define it here.
When to use Pulse
This animation is especially useful when preparing:
- Scientific presentations or lectures – to pace the delivery of complex information
- Instructional videos – where gradual reveal adds clarity
- Poster sessions or documentation – to highlight model components over time
The beauty of Pulse lies in its simplicity. Unlike more abrupt animations, the fade-in/fade-out cycle invites viewers into the structure in an almost meditative way.
To learn more about configuring the Pulse animation or check out related effects like Fade, Flash, and Hide, have a look at the full documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/pulse/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.