Working with dynamic molecular systems often means watching specific atoms or regions as they evolve over time. Whether you’re observing a key residue in a protein, a ligand during docking, or a catalytic site in motion, it’s easy to lose track of your area of interest during complex animations.
This is where the Follow atoms animation in SAMSON comes in. It offers a simple and intuitive way to ensure that the camera continuously focuses on your selected atoms throughout an animation, making it easier to analyze dynamic molecular behavior.
Why following atoms solves a real modeling pain
In molecular modeling, animations often involve large, coordinated motions of molecules—think of protein domain shifts, substrate trafficking, or conformational changes. While watching such systems, we often need to keep a specific group of atoms centered on-screen. Manually adjusting the camera frame-by-frame is impractical, especially when the motion is complex.
The Follow atoms animation lets you attach the camera to a group of selected atoms. As the atoms move, the camera follows along smoothly, preserving the view. This can be invaluable when you’re communicating structural mechanisms, preparing scientific presentations, or simply making sense of your own simulations.
How it works
When you trigger the Follow atoms animation in SAMSON, it does two important things:
- It sets the camera’s target point to the geometric center of the selected atoms.
- It moves both the target and the camera position consistently, maintaining the same relative view throughout the animation.
The result is a camera that stays locked on your region of interest, even as your molecule shifts, flexes, or diffuses over time.
Step-by-step example
- Select the atoms you want to follow using the standard selection tools in SAMSON.
- Go to the Animation panel in the Animator workspace.
- Choose the start frame in the Animator’s track view and double-click on the Follow atoms animation effect.
- Set the position of the end frame depending on how long you want the animation.
- You can preview or adjust positions using the animation controllers, but the camera will remain centered on the selected atoms throughout the duration.
Advanced tips
By default, the animation uses the active camera, but advanced users can inspect the animation and apply it to a different camera if needed. You can also toggle the Keep camera upwards option to preserve or ignore the orientation based on the visualization grid.
If your animation has a complex trajectory or if you need to compare multiple runs, this feature can help produce consistent output, reducing the need for editing or scripting to maintain focus on the same region across frames.
Conclusion
Whether you’re narrating a molecular mechanism or following the interaction of a ligand over time, the Follow atoms animation offers a quick and reliable solution to keep your atoms in sight.
To learn more, visit the official documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/follow-atoms/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net