When creating animations of molecular systems, clarity and precision play a crucial role in effectively communicating scientific insights. Have you ever tried to zoom into a specific molecular region, only to realize that adjusting camera positions changed your rendering setup or misaligned special effects like fog or depth-of-field? If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Thankfully, SAMSON offers a simple but powerful solution: the Zoom camera animation effect. This feature allows you to zoom in or out of your molecular system by adjusting only the camera’s position—not the target point.
Why it matters
Imagine working on a protein-ligand interaction. You want to create a short animation that brings the viewer’s attention to the active site. You don’t want to rotate the entire scene or shift attention away from important spatial references like fog or depth-of-field effects. This is where the Zoom camera effect makes a big difference. It lets you zoom smoothly from one frame to another, while preserving the line of sight and spatial focus.
Creating the Zoom Camera Effect
To add the Zoom camera animation in SAMSON, follow these key steps:
- Open the Animator’s Track View and go to the frame you want to start from.
- Orient the camera visually to define where you want the viewer to look at.
- Double-click the Zoom camera animation from the Animation panel.
- Move to your desired end frame and adjust the camera’s position accordingly.
By default, the Zoom camera animation applies to the currently active camera. You can inspect and change this under the animation’s properties if needed.
Customizing The Effect
Once the effect is in place, you can fine-tune it:
- Maintain perspective consistency: The animation ensures that your target point stays fixed, which keeps rendering effects tightly aligned throughout the animation.
- Adapt to grid settings: The behavior of the Zoom camera depends on the Keep camera upwards option, which acts differently depending on whether the grid is visible. This provides extra control over the camera’s rotation and behavior.
- Easing for storytelling: Smoothen or dramatize your animation timing using easing curves. This changes how camera positions interpolate between frames—linear, ease-in, ease-out, and so on.
Real Example
Take a look at the example below. The camera zooms in while targets and rendering effects remain perfectly aligned—ideal for drawing the viewer’s attention without complexity.
Looking for More Control?
If you need to adjust both camera position and its target point, other camera animations, like the Dolly camera or Move camera animations, give you that flexibility—but may impact rendering alignment. Each has its best use case.
To learn more and dive deeper into quick camera animations for molecular storytelling, visit the full documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/zoom-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.