When communicating complex molecular structures, clarity is everything. Whether you are generating animations for a publication, presentation, or teaching materials, you often need to emphasize specific regions of a molecular system. But what if you want to get closer to a part of a molecule without moving your whole field of view? That’s where the Zoom camera animation comes in.
In SAMSON, the integrative molecular design platform, the Zoom camera animation allows you to create a zoom-in or zoom-out effect for presentations without changing the camera’s target point. This means you can draw attention to a part of the structure while keeping the rest of the context intact—especially helpful when combining it with visual effects like fog or depth-of-field.
Why not just move the camera manually?
Many molecular modelers try to simulate zoom by manually adjusting the camera, or by using the Dolly camera animation. These approaches do work, but they often change the camera’s target point, leading to shifts in focus that make transitions less smooth—especially when using rendering effects that depend on positional consistency.
The Zoom camera animation solves this pain point by adjusting only the camera’s position while keeping the target constant. This is particularly useful when you want to maintain depth-of-field effects or fog centered around a specific point.
How to use the Zoom camera animation
To apply the Zoom camera animation in SAMSON, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Animator’s Track view.
- Set the start frame and orient the view as needed.
- In the Animation panel, double-click on Zoom camera.
- Set your desired end frame.
You can easily adjust both start and end frames, and if needed, further tweak the camera’s position and target using animation controllers.
Customize for more control
By default, the animation applies to the active camera, which is typically centered on the current view. But this can be customized:
- Apply to active camera: You can uncheck this by inspecting the animation to apply it to a different camera.
- Keep camera upwards: This setting decides how the camera reacts depending on whether the grid is active. It can impact the stability of your zoom direction.
- Smooth transitions: Modify the Easing curve to control how the zoom accelerates and decelerates.
These options give you the precision control needed for creating smooth and clear molecular animations that stay focused on specific regions without distracting shifts.
Practical tip
If you’re working with effects like fog or depth-of-field, use this zoom technique instead of dolly movements. Since those effects depend on the camera’s target point, the Zoom camera avoids unnecessary changes that can break immersion or clarity.
See an example of the Zoom camera animation in action:
To learn more about using camera animations in SAMSON, visit the full documentation page: Zoom camera animation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.