One frequent challenge molecular modelers face when creating animations is how to naturally zoom into a region without locking the camera onto a single, rigid point of focus. Whether highlighting a binding site, exploring internal cavities, or guiding the viewer across different functional units of a complex, maintaining a dynamic point of focus is essential for clarity and impact.
The Dolly camera animation in SAMSON offers a practical solution to this. Unlike traditional zoom-ins that magnify directly toward a single immutable point, the Dolly camera animation lets you move both the camera position and the target point over time. This results in a more cinematic and controlled zoom, ideal for storytelling in molecular presentations.
Why not just Zoom?
The regular Zoom camera animation is certainly useful, but inherently limited to a single target point. For molecular systems – especially those with large and complex compositions – this is often too restricting. When you need to draw attention gradually from one site to another as the camera advances, the Dolly camera becomes the more versatile option.
Working with the Dolly Camera Animation
Here’s a step-by-step guide to incorporate the Dolly effect into your animations:
- First, in the Track view of the Animator, select your start frame and adjust the camera orientation as needed.
- Double-click the Dolly camera animation in the Animation panel.
- Move to the desired end frame and re-orient the camera. You can rotate it, move its position, or alter both the target and eye position.
- To refine the effect, inspect the animation and choose whether it applies to the current active camera. You can uncheck “Apply to active camera” to assign it to another one if needed.
- Also under the inspection options, adjust Keep camera upwards to maintain orientation consistency, especially if the grid display influences your intended perspective.
- Finally, modify the easing curve to control the animation’s speed profile (linear, ease-in, etc.).
Refining Camera Path and Focus
The beauty of the Dolly camera tool lies in its flexibility during editing. You can shift both the starting and ending frames to shorten or extend the animation. Also, by using animation controllers (visible in the 3D viewport), you can interactively adjust both the camera’s path and its target at any point along the animation.
This feature is particularly handy for focusing on different molecular regions over time – for instance, moving from an allosteric site to the active site while gradually zooming in.
When to Use It
Use the Dolly camera effect when:
- You need to zoom while transitioning the focus between multiple areas.
- You want to direct the viewer’s attention smoothly instead of snapping or fixing the view.
- You’re creating a cinematic walkthrough of a molecule, pathway, or structure-function progression.
To learn more and explore all configuration possibilities, visit the official documentation page:
https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/dolly-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.