When preparing molecular animations or visual protocols in SAMSON, one common frustration is dealing with unintended camera movements that disrupt the flow of a presentation. Many users don’t realize that the view of their molecular system may shift unexpectedly if no camera animation is active at a given frame.
This issue becomes particularly noticeable when navigating through different frames in a presentation, especially after editing a document. Without explicitly defining how the camera should behave, SAMSON uses the camera’s current position, which might have changed while working on the scene. As a result, even simple animations may lose visual consistency — a distracting problem for any scientific communication or demonstration.
Using “Hold camera” for Visual Consistency
The good news is there’s an easy fix for this: the Hold camera animation.
The Hold camera animation locks the camera’s position and orientation at a specific frame in your presentation. If you’re not planning to pan, orbit, or zoom — but still want consistent visuals — this lightweight animation can keep your molecular view static.
To apply this:
- Open your presentation in the Animator by double-clicking on it in the Document view.
- Navigate to the Animation panel on the right side of the Animator.
- Under the Camera animations section, double-click Hold camera.
You should now see a track added to the Track view. SAMSON will maintain the camera’s perspective at that frame, preserving your scientific story’s visual consistency.
Optional, But Recommended
While SAMSON doesn’t require you to have a camera animation at every frame, users often find their camera view drifting subtly when navigating through frames mid-edit. That’s because changes made while modeling (e.g., rotating, zooming, or shifting the view) affect the camera’s live position unless overridden by a defined animation.
It’s good practice, therefore, to use Hold camera at points where no other camera animations (e.g., Orbit, Move, Dolly) are active. This recommendation is especially relevant when exporting high-quality movies to present your molecular systems to colleagues or in publications.
Helpful Tip
If you want to introduce static views between more elaborate animations — like a pause for explanation before zooming in — you can combine Hold camera with the Pause animation. This lets you control not just how things look, but how long they stay on screen.
Preview and Adjust
After adding the Hold camera animation, press Space or use the playback buttons in Animator’s control panel to preview your animation. If needed, you can use drag-and-drop in the Track view to adjust keyframes and make sure your visual timing matches your narration style.
This simple practice — explicitly setting a camera position when you don’t plan to move — helps molecular modelers build clearer, more reliable visual narratives.
Learn more in the full documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.