Capturing attention in molecular animations often means more than just rotating around a molecule. When presenting complex molecular scenes or creating scientific animations, you may want to create a controlled flythrough that smoothly zooms and shifts focus from one molecular region to another. This is where the Dolly camera in SAMSON becomes useful.
If you’ve struggled with animations that feel either too static or too sudden—especially when navigating dense molecular systems—the Dolly camera effect gives you precise control over both the camera’s position and its target point over time. Let’s walk through why this helps, and how to get started.
What’s the problem?
In molecular modeling, visual communication is key. But showing the transition between regions of interest in a molecule can be challenging. The basic Zoom effect allows focusing on one point, but what if your animation needs to go from one site to another—say, a binding pocket to an allosteric site—with a deliberate shift in perspective?
The Dolly camera solves this. Unlike the Zoom camera that handles only one target point, the Dolly animation lets you interpolate both the camera position and target, enabling cinematic transitions—you can keep the molecule centered while smoothly altering the viewpoint or even zoom in and change the point of interest at the same time.
Getting started with Dolly camera
To apply a Dolly camera animation in SAMSON:
- Open the Animator and go to the Track view.
- Set your start frame and orient the camera how you’d like the animation to begin.
- In the Animation panel, double-click Dolly camera.
- Move to your preferred end frame and adjust the camera’s final position and point of focus.
Note: You can always move the start and end frames later to fine-tune your visual sequence.
Fine-tuning your animation
After adding a Dolly camera effect, you have several adjustable properties:
- Apply to active camera: By default, the effect applies to the currently active camera but can be reassigned.
- Keep camera upwards: Controls if the camera’s up direction stays fixed—useful depending on whether the grid is on.
- Easing curve: Defines how smoothly the motion transitions between frames (e.g., linear, ease-in-out).
These options are particularly impactful when guiding viewers through large systems or focusing on reactions in active sites. You can adjust the parameter interpolation directly to match the speed and curve of your narrative or scientific story.
Tweaking the trajectory
Once placed, the camera’s exact positions and target points can be refined using the animation controllers. This enables precise framing, ensuring that both the angle and zoom level highlight key molecular interactions or features effectively.
Whether you’re preparing a presentation, teaching, or generating visual content for publications, giving viewers a camera motion that both informs and guides can elevate your communication. The Dolly camera is an important step in that process.
To learn more details about the Dolly camera animation and how it compares to other camera effects, visit the original documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/dolly-camera/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.