When preparing molecular presentations or animations, clarity and focus are everything. Whether you’re showcasing a binding site for clarity, highlighting a ligand interaction, or trying to subtly direct the viewer’s attention, camera movements go a long way. But have you ever tried zooming into a structure in an animation, only to find that other visual effects like fog or depth of field start behaving unpredictably? 🤨
Enter the Zoom camera animation in SAMSON: a convenient solution when you want to zoom into a molecular region without affecting your scene’s target point or visual context.
Why regular zooming falls short
Traditional camera animations like Dolly camera may alter both the position and the target point of your camera. This often results in noticeable changes in how visual effects—like Fog and Depth-of-field—behave between frames. For molecular modelers who want consistency and precision, dramatically shifting visuals can disrupt the flow of the animation or misrepresent important structural features.
The Zoom camera animation solves this by changing only the camera’s position between frames, keeping the target point fixed. This leads to a clean zoom-in or zoom-out movement without affecting the rendering direction or depth dynamics. It also means you can maintain the center of your scene, such as a specific residue or a ligand pocket, making the animation feel much more controlled.
How to use the Zoom camera animation
It’s simple to apply. Here’s a quick guide:
- In the Animator’s Track view, select your start frame.
- Adjust the view and orientation of the camera as desired.
- In the Animation panel, double-click on Zoom camera.
- Then choose the end frame of the animation and adjust the zoom level by changing the view/camera position.
That’s it! SAMSON automatically interpolates the camera movement between those frames. You can move the start or end frame later, without reapplying the effect.
Tuning camera behavior
For molecular modelers who want additional control, the Zoom camera animation includes options accessible via the Inspector:
- Apply to active camera: Choose whether the animation applies to the current active camera or another specific camera.
- Keep camera upwards: This setting affects how the camera behaves relative to the scene’s up direction—useful if you’re working with or without the grid in the scene view.
- Easing curve: Define the interpolation curve to control acceleration or deceleration of the animation, for a more dynamic or smooth zoom.
For more precision, you can even adjust camera positions manually using animation controllers.
Example of a Zoom camera in action
Here’s what a typical Zoom camera effect looks like when applied to a molecular structure:
This type of movement is especially useful in areas of the molecular model that you want to inspect more closely or emphasize during a presentation—without disorienting the viewer or changing the lighting or focus effects you’ve already tweaked.
To learn more and dive into additional configuration options, visit the original documentation page:
https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/zoom-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.