For molecular modelers, visual clarity is critical. Whether you’re presenting your structural models to colleagues or fine-tuning visualizations for personal research, striking the right balance of visibility often determines the impact and understanding of your work. But have you ever wished for a seamless way to gradually fade elements out during animations, rather than abruptly hiding them? Say hello to the Disappear animation in SAMSON.
The Disappear animation is a step forward in customizing how molecular nodes—including structural models, visual models, meshes, and labels—behave during transitions in presentations. The key benefit? Progressive fade-outs, powered by leveraging transparency attributes. This approach provides a refined alternative to the abrupt ‘Hide’ animation and enhances the storytelling of your molecular design processes.
How Does It Work?
The ‘Disappear’ animation applies only to nodes with a transparency attribute. For example, you can use it on structural and visual models or labeling elements, but not on individual atoms and bonds, which lack their own opacity attributes. In such cases, simply apply the animation to the relevant structural model itself to achieve the desired effect.
Keyframes Simplify the Fade-Out
- Keyframes 1–2: The nodes remain fully opaque.
- Keyframes 2–3: Nodes progressively fade, incrementally increasing their transparency.
- Keyframes 3–4: Nodes become completely transparent, disappearing from view.
From here, you can manually adjust the positioning of keyframes to control the pace and timing of the fade-out effect.
Why ‘Disappear’ Animation is a Game-Changer
The animation’s gradual approach to node fading facilitates more professional and precise molecular presentations. Whether illustrating the contextual significance of each part of a molecular structure or honing focus on specific elements, incremental transparency provides more control over visual storytelling. Additionally, when paired with other animations like ‘Appear’ or ‘Pulse,’ it can help craft meaningful transitions for a wide array of scenarios.
How to Add the Animation
It’s simple:
- Choose the nodes you want to progressively disappear.
- Double-click the ‘Disappear’ animation in the Animation Panel of SAMSON’s Animator.
Plus, you can tweak the Easing Curve to modify how the animation moves between keyframes, offering even finer control over the aesthetic of your presentations.
What Else Should You Know?
Take note that this animation no longer relies on the deprecated Animation Menu in SAMSON; instead, you can find it in the Animation Panel within the Animator. With its intuitive interface, adding and modifying animations is a breeze.
If you’re ready to bring fluid molecular transitions to life, explore the detailed documentation on the ‘Disappear’ animation to dive deeper and access step-by-step instructions.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON from SAMSON’s official website.