A molecular model can change quickly during interactive modeling. You may drag an atom, relax a structure, and arrive at a pose worth keeping—then continue experimenting and lose track of how the model looked before. A useful habit is to save important states as conformations while you work. In SAMSON, you can later restore those snapshots or combine compatible ones into a path.
A conformation stores the positions of a structural model or a group of atoms. Think of it as a saved frame, rather than a recording of every movement in between. That distinction helps you choose what to save: capture the states you want to revisit, compare, or use as steps in a trajectory.
Save a state before you keep modeling
When the model is in a state you may want to return to:
- Select the structural model or group of atoms whose positions you want to preserve.
- Choose Edit > Conformation, or press S.
A conformation node appears in the Document view. Give yourself a moment to check that you selected the intended atoms before saving: a conformation records the selected structural model or group, so the selection determines what state is captured.
This makes snapshots useful during interactive work. Save a state before making a substantial change, and you can continue exploring without treating every experiment as irreversible. You can also save more than one state as the model develops.
Return to a saved conformation
To restore a saved state, double-click its conformation in the Document view. Alternatively, right-click the conformation and choose Restore conformation. This is a straightforward way to return to a pose you saved earlier, rather than trying to recreate it by hand.
Turn snapshots into a path
Individual conformations are snapshots. If you have several that describe the same set of atoms, you can arrange them into a path—a trajectory made from those saved states. This is useful when you want to explore a sequence of poses rather than jump between separate snapshots.
- Select the conformations you want to include.
- Right-click the selection and choose Conformation > Create path from conformations.
The same-atom requirement matters: conformations containing different sets of atoms cannot be combined using this workflow. Once the path is created, you can examine it further with Path Analyzer.
Keep the snapshots with the document
When you save a SAMSON document as a .sam or .samx file, its conformations are saved as well. That makes the document a practical place to keep the model and the states you chose to preserve together.
In short: save a conformation when a pose is worth revisiting, restore it when you need to return, and create a path when you want to explore a sequence of saved states. For more about simulators, interactive modeling, and conformations, see the Modeling and Simulation documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.