Ever tried to present a complex molecular system, only to find that viewers get overwhelmed by all the atoms and bonds popping up at once? A common challenge in molecular modeling is not just building great models, but communicating them clearly.
If you’ve found yourself wishing your molecules could show up more gracefully—progressively revealing their structure—then the Appear animation in SAMSON may be just what you need.
What is the Appear Animation?
The Appear animation lets you make molecular elements gradually become visible, using their transparency attribute. It’s a subtle effect, but it makes a remarkable difference when you’re trying to guide attention or build suspense in a presentation or educational video.
This effect can be applied to any nodes that have transparency settings, including:
- Structural models
- Visual models
- Meshes
- Labels
However, take note: individual atoms and bonds themselves don’t have transparency attributes. Their parent structural models do. So, if you’re animating atoms, make sure the animation is applied to the structural model containing them—not to the atoms individually.
When Would You Use It?
The Appear animation is useful in many scenarios:
- When introducing a molecule gradually in lectures or video presentations
- To visually emphasize the emergence or movement of specific structures
- In teaching, to show the assembly of complex systems one layer at a time
The animation is controlled with 4 keyframes:
- 1 → 2: Nodes stay fully transparent
- 2 → 3: Nodes begin to appear, decreasing in transparency
- 3 → 4: Nodes become fully visible (fully opaque)
You can move these keyframes along the timeline as needed, giving you flexibility in how fast (or slow) the appearance happens. For more advanced control, you can also adjust how the transparency evolves over time with Easing curves.
How To Add the Appear Animation
- Select the node(s) you want to animate.
- Open the Animation panel in the Animator.
- Double-click on the Appear animation from the list to apply it.
Want to preview what this looks like in action? Here’s an example featuring the Appear and Disappear animations:
This visual storytelling technique can make your scientific presentations easier to follow and more visually engaging—without overwhelming your audience with too much information all at once.
To dive deeper, visit the official documentation for the Appear animation in SAMSON.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.