When presenting molecular animations, timing is often just as important as content. Whether you’re building a video presentation for a conference, teaching molecular dynamics in a classroom, or showcasing your latest protein-ligand interaction, being able to emphasize key moments can make all the difference.
That’s where the Pause animation in SAMSON becomes useful. This small but precise tool lets you freeze the motion at one frame for a set number of seconds. Why does this matter? Because it allows your audience to absorb complex molecular arrangements and interactions at their own pace—even when you’re not physically guiding them.
Use Case: Guiding Attention in Molecular Presentations
Picture this: you’ve just created an animation showing an inhibitor binding to a receptor. The ligand navigates a hydrophobic channel, then settles into the binding pocket. Blink and your viewer might miss it. By inserting a Pause animation effect at the frame just before binding, you give viewers a moment to focus on the site, identify key interactions, and process what just happened. This is especially helpful in educational settings or when introducing complex systems to interdisciplinary teams.
How to Add a Pause
In the Animation panel of the Animator, simply double-click on the Pause effect. This inserts a keyframe at your current frame. You can drag this keyframe to wherever you’d like the animation to pause.
Note
You can always move the keyframes after creation if the timing doesn’t feel quite right.
Setting the Right Duration
Once your Pause is placed, how long should you pause? That’s customizable, too. Select the Pause animation node in the Document view and use the Inspector to assign the duration in seconds. This lets you plan your animations organically—emphasizing molecular events only when it makes sense.
Why This Matters
Animations are more than visuals—they are storytelling tools. In molecular modeling, pausing can spotlight critical interactions, highlight stereo-chemical events, or even serve as built-in breathing space in student-led walkthroughs. And since SAMSON lets you seamlessly combine Pause with other animations, such as motion or camera transitions, the result feels natural rather than disjointed.
And the best part? The workflow is non-destructive and fully editable. You can experiment with timing freely, without affecting your molecular models. Consider using Pause not just for aesthetics, but as a pedagogical or communicative technique to enhance understanding.
To learn more, check out the official documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.