Creating high-quality molecular animations often requires more than just rotating around a molecule. Sometimes, we want to elevate the entire viewpoint smoothly in a vertical direction—think of showcasing a molecular complex from bottom to top, or emphasizing structural features along a membrane axis. If you’ve tried to do this manually, you know how tricky getting that smooth vertical motion can be.
The Pedestal camera animation in SAMSON solves this challenge precisely. It lets you shift the view upward or downward without rotating the camera or changing the perspective, making it ideal for:
- Animating cross-sections of membrane proteins
- Showing vertical progress through structural layers
- Comparing subunits in large biomolecular assemblies from base to tip
This can bring your explanatory videos and presentations to the next level, especially for membrane-associated complexes, filament systems, and layered materials that stretch in a vertical dimension.
What the Pedestal Camera Actually Does
The Pedestal camera animation causes the camera’s position and target point to move in parallel in the vertical direction between two keyframes. Importantly, it’s not spinning around the object—it’s lifting the whole frame up (or down) steadily, creating a smooth vertical motion. This makes it distinct from the Truck camera (horizontal movement) and other motion types.
How to Add It in SAMSON
- Select the starting frame in the Animator’s Track view.
- Orient your camera to the viewpoint you want as the start position.
- In the Animation panel, double-click on Pedestal camera.
- Set the end frame in the Animator timeline. The camera’s position and target will automatically be vertically shifted for the end frame.
You can always move the keyframes afterward to adjust the duration of the animation.
Advanced Tweaks
If needed, you can further customize the Pedestal animation:
- Apply to a different camera: Open the Inspector and uncheck “Apply to active camera” if you want the effect on a specific camera.
- Interpolation: Choose the Easing curve that best suits your scene—linear, smooth start, or bounce effects.
- Respect the grid orientation: Toggle the “Keep camera upwards” option to determine if the grid orientation should affect the direction of vertical movement.
Limitations You Should Know
While you can adjust the positions and target points via animation controllers (as you would with other types), the Pedestal camera has some constraints. Its particular movement path limits how freely you can change its direction—the movement will always remain parallel and vertical in the scene’s reference frame.
This animation is particularly useful when you want to preserve spatial arrangement while still achieving dynamic camera motion. Combined with other effects (such as the Truck camera or Zoom camera), it can help create engaging, informative molecular walkthroughs.
To see all the details and special cases, check out the full documentation here:
https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/pedestal-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON from https://www.samson-connect.net.