When creating presentations or tutorial videos in molecular modeling, clarity and flow are critical. One common challenge is controlling when specific molecular structures appear, particularly when building complex animations step-by-step. Simply adjusting transparency can make objects hard to see or leave visual clutter, leading to confusion. Fortunately, SAMSON offers a clean solution: the Shown animation.
The Shown animation effect enhances presentations by letting you precisely control visibility of molecular nodes—such as atoms, groups, or entire molecular assemblies—within your animation timeline. It toggles the visibility of nodes between keyframes, without relying on adjusting transparency levels.
Why Visibility Matters
Unlike transparency-based effects, the Shown animation ensures that a molecular node is either completely visible or completely hidden. This is especially helpful for:
- Building narrative clarity: reveal parts of a molecule as you explain their function.
- Creating stepwise transformations: illustrate molecular mechanisms or reactions clearly.
- Avoiding clutter: hide non-essential elements until needed.
How to Use the Shown Animation
Here’s how to add the Shown animation effect in SAMSON:
- Select the nodes you want to show.
- In the Animation panel of the Animator, double-click the Shown animation effect. A begin keyframe will be placed at the current frame.
- Move the keyframes along the timeline as needed, depending on when you’d like the nodes to be visible.
You can also adjust interpolation through the Easing curve, which changes how smoothly the visibility effect transitions across keyframes (although visibility itself is binary, easing can affect other concurrent animation parameters).
Things to Keep in Mind
- This effect is different from the Appear and Show animations, which involve adjusting the transparency of nodes. Shown directly manages visibility, making it ideal for binary visibility changes.
- If you used previous versions of SAMSON, note that animations are now accessed through the Animation panel in the Animator, rather than the old Animation menu.
Combine with Other Effects
For richer visual storytelling, consider combining Shown with other effects like Flash or Pulse to draw attention to a structure once it becomes visible. Since animations in SAMSON are layered and synchronized via keyframes, this can be done easily within the same timeline.
In short, Shown is a precise and effective way to structure molecular visualizations, helping you guide your audience’s attention with clarity and intent. For more technical details, visit the original documentation page here.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON from https://www.samson-connect.net.