For molecular modelers, visualizing complex systems in a clear and efficient way can be a time-consuming challenge. Selecting different representations, applying colors, and tailoring the display for publication or analysis often requires multiple steps and feels tedious. What if you could streamline this process without compromising on quality? SAMSON’s visual presets bring you one step closer to solving this pain point.
What Are Visual Presets?
Visual presets are a convenient feature in SAMSON that allows you to apply multiple visual representations and color schemes to molecular systems simultaneously, all with just a few clicks. This is especially useful when dealing with intricate molecular systems such as proteins or complexes that require different visual styles (e.g., ribbons, ball-and-stick, and van der Waals) for different components.
SAMSON provides a curated set of default visual presets, such as the “Protein-ligand” view, ready to be used immediately. Additionally, users can create and save their custom visual presets, offering an unprecedented level of flexibility over their visualization workflows.
How to Apply Visual Presets
Applying a visual preset is straightforward:
- Navigate to Home > Visual preset or Visualization > Visual preset.
- Select a preset from the list, and it will be applied to the molecular system or the currently selected nodes.
For example, the “Protein-ligand” preset quickly highlights key features of a molecular complex, simplifying the visualization of interactions. Here’s an example of the “Protein-ligand” preset applied to the PDB code 1AA1:
Creating Your Own Visual Presets
For users who need visualizations tailored to specific requirements, SAMSON offers the Visual Preset Editor. This powerful tool allows you to customize or create visual presets from scratch by adding multiple steps. Each step allows you to:
- Select nodes (e.g., “Receptor,” “Ligands,” or custom selections).
- Apply actions like hiding nodes, zooming in, or labeling atoms.
- Add visual models (e.g., “Ribbons,” “Licorice,” or “Van der Waals”).
- Apply color schemes (e.g., “Constant,” “Per chain,” or custom palettes).
One noteworthy feature is the ability to define custom node selections using the Node Specification Language, enabling you to specify exactly what parts of the molecular system should be affected by each step.
Here’s a snapshot of the intuitive Visual Preset Editor:
Once your custom preset is ready, you can save it to reuse across sessions. This ensures that you don’t have to repeat the same settings whenever you load a similar system.
Instantly Enhance Your Visualizations
Visual presets save time and help create professional-quality molecular visuals effortlessly. Beginners and experts alike will appreciate how it condenses repetitive tasks into straightforward steps, allowing focus to remain on the science rather than the software. Whether you are preparing publication-quality images or showcasing molecular mechanisms in a presentation, visual presets in SAMSON give you the tools to achieve stunning results.
To explore all the capabilities of visual presets and learn how to create your own, you can visit the full documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/visual-presets/.
*Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.