When presenting a molecular simulation or model to an audience, timing is everything. You may want to highlight a key step in a mechanism, pause for discussion, or transition smoothly between ‘slides’ of your demonstration. But how do you break a continuous animation down into clear, digestible phases—like a slideshow for science?
That’s where the Stop animation in SAMSON comes in. It’s a simple but very effective tool for introducing pauses at specific moments in your molecular animations. In this post, we explore how this feature helps structure complex animations into meaningful, modular units that are easier to follow for both presenters and audiences.
Why stopping animations can improve presentations
Scientific presentations involving molecular systems often rely on animations to illustrate dynamic processes—from ligand binding to conformational changes. However, without structure, viewers can easily miss key insights. The animation plays, and before anyone has time to absorb a scene, it moves on.
Just like slides in a regular presentation, breaking your animation into segments gives you control over pacing. With a Stop at key frames, you can:
- Pause and explain a structural feature
- Wait for audience questions
- Emphasize important transitions
- Use separate segments to cover different hypotheses or models
How to add a Stop animation in SAMSON
The good news is that adding a Stop in SAMSON is very easy:
- Open the Animator.
- Go to the Animation panel.
- Double-click on the Stop animation effect.
- A keyframe is inserted at the current frame. You can move it to the desired point in your timeline afterwards.
This keyframe stops playback exactly at the frame where it’s placed. From there, you (or your audience) can resume the animation manually by pressing the spacebar or clicking the Play button.
Note
You can always adjust the position of keyframes as you refine your animation timeline.
Combining Stop and Play for interactive storytelling
Because SAMSON lets you mix various animation effects on a timeline, you can combine the Stop feature with camera transitions, appearance/disappearance of elements, and annotation overlays. This opens the door to interactive storytelling in structural biology, drug design, or educational demos.
For example, you can show a ligand approaching the active site, insert a Stop, and then explain the role of specific residues before continuing. It breaks down complexity step by step and invites engagement from your audience.
If you’re familiar with the Pause animation, it’s worth noting that Stop behaves differently: Pause merely delays the animation automatically for a bit, while Stop requires a manual resume—which is perfect for controlled presentations.
To learn more about using the Stop animation feature in SAMSON, visit the official documentation page here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/stop/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.