When presenting molecular simulations or building molecular animations, one common frustration among researchers is the camera suddenly shifting angles between frames. These unexpected changes can distract viewers, make interpretation harder, and reduce the clarity of your communication. If you’re working in SAMSON and want to ensure a stable and consistent camera angle throughout selected parts of your animation, the Hold camera animation can help.
Imagine you’re preparing a presentation to showcase how a ligand binds to a receptor. You’ve oriented the camera to highlight the binding pocket with precision. You animate the ligand’s journey to the site. But after adding several frames, you realize the camera jumps unexpectedly before the final frame. The angle is no longer aligned with the rest of your story—and manually repositioning it risks inconsistencies. This is where “Hold camera” comes in handy.
Why Stabilizing the View Matters
In animation workflows, molecular modelers often focus on the entities being animated—molecules, forces, movements—but overlook the camera’s role as narrator. A camera that shifts without clear purpose can mislead viewers or obscure key interactions. Maintaining a static viewpoint between specific frames helps ensure that scientific details remain visible and easy to follow.
What the ‘Hold Camera’ Animation Does
The Hold camera animation in SAMSON lets you freeze the camera orientation, position, and lens settings between two frames. It ensures that—even if you modify the document or animate other parts of the system—the viewer continues to see the scene from the exact same perspective.
Technically, it works by saving the camera settings at a start frame and applying them consistently until the end frame. This lets you:
- Maintain clarity by avoiding camera drift.
- Isolate sections of your animation that require a fixed perspective.
- Emphasize structural changes without distracting movement.
How to Add a Hold Camera Animation
Here’s a quick step-by-step:
- In the Animator’s Track view, select the start frame where you want the view to remain fixed.
- Manually orient the camera using the mouse or navigation tools to set your preferred view.
- In the Animation panel, double-click on Hold camera.
- Set the desired end frame of the effect.
The animation will now hold the camera parameters constant from start to end frame. You can always move or adjust the start and end points later based on your project needs.
Note: If you’ve used older tutorials, you may notice references to the “Animation” menu. This has been retired, and all animations are now accessible through the Animation panel within the Animator.
The following image shows how the effect works in action:
Stabilizing the view may seem like a small step, but it can greatly enhance the quality of your presentations and make your scientific stories clearer to your audience. Whether you’re producing videos for publication or teaching, “Hold camera” helps you stay in control of what your viewer sees.
To learn more, see the full documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/hold-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net