Molecular modelers and educators often face a common challenge: how to visually trace and document the atomic motion resulting from complex simulations or animations when presenting molecular mechanisms. Whether you’re simulating molecular docking, assembling a protein complex, or showcasing a conformational change, it can be difficult to create a clear, persistent visual trace of atomic positions over time.
In the SAMSON platform, there’s a helpful solution designed specifically for that purpose: the Record path animation. This animation captures atomic trajectories across your entire presentation, making it much easier to visualize, explain, and share molecular processes. Let’s walk through how this tool can streamline your workflow and enhance your scientific communication.
When to Use Record Path
Use the Record path animation when you want to:
- Capture and visualize how atoms move over time
- Generate a path that persists after the movement has ended
- Combine movements from other animations (e.g., Dock, Simulate, Assemble) into one traceable trajectory
This becomes especially useful for creating tutorials or presentations with meaningful visual storytelling, where just playing an animation might not be enough to illustrate a mechanism or behavior.
How to Add the Animation
You can add the Record path from the Animation panel by simply double-clicking on it. A keyframe will appear at the current frame. You can move it if needed.
The track created will change color depending on recording status:
- Green segments: atomic positions recorded
- Red segments: not yet recorded or invalid path
Tips for Accurate Recording
Animation Order Matters: The Animator runs animations top to bottom. Make sure Record path is listed after the animation(s) you’re capturing.
Toggle Recording for Better Performance: You can turn recording on/off while tuning your animation. This is helpful when editing and makes the interface more responsive. Control this from the Inspector or context-menu in the Animator panel.
Exporting the Path
Once the full motion is captured (the whole animation bar turns green), you can convert it into a permanent Path node by:
- Clicking Create path in the Inspector panel of the animation
- Or right-clicking on the animation in the Animator and selecting Create path
This is particularly useful if you want to:
- Reuse the path in other animations (e.g. Play path)
- Manually modify or visualize the trajectory post-recording
The Record path feature does not just save time. It helps you build a bridge between chaotic raw simulation data and clean, illustrative animations that tell a clearer scientific story.
To learn more, visit the official documentation page for Record path.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON from www.samson-connect.net.