When preparing presentations for molecular modeling work, researchers often face the challenge of controlling the pace of their animations. Whether you’re demonstrating a binding process, highlighting conformational changes, or transitioning between topics in a research talk, timing is critical. A common user pain is the inability to structure a molecular presentation in a way that mimics the clarity and control of slide-based talks — where you decide when to move forward.
In SAMSON, the integrative platform for molecular design, there’s a simple yet powerful solution for this: the Stop animation. This feature gives you full pause control during your molecular presentations, allowing you to segment your animation into natural breakpoints — just like slides in a presentation tool.
Why Add a Stop Animation?
Using the Stop animation effect is useful when you need a moment to explain what is on the screen, before continuing — especially in live presentations or when recording instructional videos. Instead of your model flying through an entire trajectory or transformation too quickly, a well-placed Stop makes time to elaborate.
How It Works
When added to a molecular presentation in SAMSON, the Stop animation causes playback to pause at a specific frame. To continue, the viewer either needs to press Space or click the Play button in the Animator’s controls.
This is particularly useful for:
- Segmenting a complex animation into thematic units
- Allowing the audience time to absorb each step
- Creating interactive moments during lectures
- Preparing pause points for Q&A sessions
Adding a Stop in SAMSON
To add a Stop animation in your Animator timeline, simply double-click the Stop effect in the Animation panel. By default, the Stop keyframe appears at the current timeline frame. You can drag it to any position later, depending on when you need the pause.
Tip
You can rearrange keyframes at any time to better match the flow of your presentation.
Combined with Pause Effects
While the Pause animation allows for a fixed-duration pause, the Stop holds the presentation indefinitely. This distinction is helpful when designing talks that require on-the-fly pacing adjustments, such as when different parts of the audience need different levels of explanation.
No More Rushing Through Science
Giving your audience time to reflect on what they see can greatly improve how well your molecular story is understood. Whether you’re demonstrating molecular docking, folding, or conformational transitions, the Stop animation in SAMSON enables effective pacing and clarity.
Curious to try this out? You can explore more in the official documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/stop/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.