When capturing and presenting molecular systems, clarity can often hinge on what is not shown—at least, not all at once. Whether you’re producing an educational video, walking through a molecular mechanism in a talk, or preparing a visual abstract, the way components disappear can be just as informative as how they appear.
This is where the Disappear animation in SAMSON becomes particularly valuable. It adds a seamless transparency transition to molecular nodes, enhancing temporal storytelling in structural biology and chemistry presentations.
Understand the Need
In many molecular animations, users want to show part of a complex, then reveal what’s underneath—step by step. A common workaround is the abrupt hide/show toggle, which can feel too sudden for nuanced transitions. The Disappear animation solves this by progressively increasing transparency across a controlled series of keyframes.
What You Can Use It On
This animation only applies to nodes that support a transparency attribute. These include:
- Structural models
- Visual models
- Meshes
- Labels
It won’t function on individual atoms or bonds, as they lack individual opacity attributes. To make an entire chain or residue gradually disappear, just apply the effect to its parent model.
Using the Disappear Animation
- Select the nodes you want to disappear over time.
- Open the Animator, and through its Animation panel, double-click on the Disappear animation effect.
The animation comes pre-loaded with four keyframes:
- Keyframes 1 → 2: Fully opaque
- Keyframes 2 → 3: Linearly fade to transparent
- Keyframes 3 → 4: Fully transparent
You can reposition the keyframes along the timeline to control the pacing. Even a 1-second transition can strongly influence visual engagement, especially when synchronized with motion or narration.
Going Further: Control the Interpolation
The default fade might be a linear transparency curve, but SAMSON lets you tweak this using Easing curves. This feature adjusts how transparency changes across time—for example, easing in slowly before fading out quickly, or using an ‘S’ curve for soft transitions. It’s subtle, but impacts viewer perception significantly.
Visual Example
If you’re curious about what this looks like in practice, here’s a simple illustration of how the Disappear animation blends with Appear for a fluid visual rhythm:
Best Practices
- Use on mid-resolution components like domains, not single atoms.
- Couple with Appear or Flash animations to construct guided molecular stories.
- Use opacity blending instead of sudden layer toggling to reduce visual discontinuity.
To learn more about the Disappear animation, refer to the complete official documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download the platform at https://www.samson-connect.net.