When you’re building a molecular animation in SAMSON — maybe you’re docking a ligand, assembling a structure, or simulating a dynamic system — it’s common to run into this problem: you want to show where your atoms have been, but there’s no trajectory trail to make the movement intuitive or visually satisfying.
Enter the Record path animation, a simple yet useful feature in SAMSON that lets you capture atom trajectories as your animation plays. Whether you’re preparing an explanatory video, debugging a simulation setup, or just curious about exact motion paths, recording atomic trajectories can bring clarity — and even some aesthetic appeal — to your molecular presentations 🧬.
What does “Record path” actually do?
The Record path animation effect creates a special track in your timeline. This track keeps a log of each selected atom’s 3D position at every animation frame during the presentation playback. As a result, you get a complete spatial history — a path — of where those atoms travel.
This comes in handy when combined with animations that change atom positions, like:
Green means go, red means…
As your animation plays, the Record path track keeps updating. Segments on the track become green when an atom’s position is successfully recorded, and red otherwise (e.g., if recording failed or if nothing moved at that frame).
This color coding helps you quickly assess which parts of your animation are fully recorded — and which still need attention.
Tips for successful path recording
- Order matters: SAMSON executes animations from top to bottom in the Animator panel. Make sure the Record path effect is placed after the animations that move atoms, so it captures their updated positions.
- Toggle recording for performance: You can disable recording temporarily to speed up editing or to freeze the path once it’s finalized. This is done via the animation’s Inspector or by right-clicking on it in the Animator.
- Move keyframes freely: If you need to adjust the timing of your recording, just drag keyframes to new positions.
Export your path
Once your animation has been played and all relevant segments have turned green (i.e., fully recorded), it’s time to export the path as an object in your document. There are two options:
- Via the Inspector: Click Create path
- Via the Animator: Right-click on the Record path effect and choose Create path
This adds a Path node to your document that can be used for visual effects, measurements, or reference during further editing.
Don’t skip it
Recording paths may seem like a small detail, but it gives your molecular animations a solid backbone. Instead of “just watching atoms move,” viewers can trace trajectories, spot patterns, and understand what’s happening structurally over time.
Learn more in the official documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON from https://www.samson-connect.net.