When presenting molecular systems or creating visual walkthroughs in SAMSON, scientists and educators often run into a familiar challenge: how to create smooth, clear animations that allow viewers to follow complex structures horizontally across a scene. While rotating and zooming offer dynamic views, translating the camera perspective in a controlled way can help maintain orientation and highlight specific paths or features.
The Truck camera animation in SAMSON addresses precisely this need. It allows molecular modelers to move both the camera position and its target point horizontally, mimicking the side-to-side movement of a camera mounted on a truck or dolly. This motion can dramatically improve how a molecular system is visually explored—especially when the camera needs to follow a ligand binding path, navigate across a protein surface, or inspect a polymer chain.
How Truck Camera Movement Works
In SAMSON, a camera has two main components: its position (where it’s located) and its target (what it’s looking at). The Truck camera animation shifts both of these elements horizontally in parallel. This means the camera’s focus—and its relative viewing direction—is preserved while moving across space.
Compared with rotation-based animations, this method ensures that the viewer’s orientation doesn’t change—useful for educational videos or explorations where introducing rotation could distract from the structure being observed.
Setting Up the Animation
To try it out, open the Animator and go to the Animation panel:
- Select a start frame in the Track view.
- Adjust your camera to the desired initial position and orientation.
- Double-click Truck camera from the animation list.
- SAMSON applies a horizontal shift for both the camera position and target, defining the end state.
- You can further adjust the timing by setting the animation’s end frame.
Here’s how the animation looks in action:
Control and Customization
The Truck camera is typically applied to the active camera. However, if needed, you can inspect the animation and uncheck the Apply to active camera option to target a different camera.
To ensure a consistent horizon during movement, you may want to enable the Keep camera upwards option, especially when the grid is active. This helps in maintaining a stable viewpoint during the animation.
You also have control over how the camera parameters interpolate between frames. Adjusting the Easing curve allows for smooth starts and stops, adding realism to your video sequences.
Fine-Tuning in Complex Scenes
If you need to adjust the camera paths after applying the Truck camera effect, use the animation controllers to tweak start and end positions. Take note, however: the Truck camera effect imposes some limitations on how these positions and targets can be adjusted. It’s designed for horizontal movement, so modifying other axes or introducing a vertical shift may require combining it with other camera animations like Pedestal camera.
When Should You Use Truck Camera?
Think about scenarios where you want to guide the viewer smoothly across a molecular surface without changing the overall orientation. Examples include exploring binding pockets, migrating along membranes, or even scanning across densely packed systems. The Truck camera offers a clean and intuitive way to accomplish this without introducing cognitive load through complex camera rotations.
To learn more about how to apply and adjust the Truck camera animation, visit the full documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/truck-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.