CrystalMaker lets you build animations, rapidly switching between a series of "frames" to show, for example, structural behaviour, dynamical properties - or the trajectory of a computer simulation.
To display an animation, CrystalMaker requires a sequence of structures, loaded into the same document; these will become the "frames" of the animation. Your first step is therefore to provide the relevant data for each frame. Typically, you would use a sequence of data files (each providing data for a single "View"), or a single multi-structure data file (e.g., CIF, PDB or XYZ).
To add one or more data files to an animation:
Drag-and-drop the files into the same document, or into the document's Structures List.
Each structure is then represented by a thumbnail in the Structures List. Note that you can click-and-drag thumbnails to rearrange them. You can also rename or delete individual thumbnails.
It is vital to ensure that each of the frames is synchronized: that is, shares the same scale, view direction, atom colours, and other visual properties, as the remaining frames. If you have many frames, this could be a very painstaking task; fortunately, CrystalMaker can automate this process for you, using one "Master" View as a "template", which can be applied to the remaining views.
To synchronize an animation:
Ensure that your "master" (template) structure is selected. This will be the structure whose settings can be applied to all structures in the same document.
Choose the Transform > Synchronize command.
A sheet appears, prompting you to specify whether you require atom-level synchronization (in which case, the program will try to match the visibility of atoms in the master structure with all other structures - which can be slow).
Click the OK button to start the synchronization process. Each structure will be updated to match the Master one, and the thumbnails will progressively update to reflect this.
You can display an animation as long as you have two-or-more structures loaded in the same window.
To start an animation, do one of the following:
Click the toolbar's Play button;
Choose Transform > Play.
To customize an animation, do the following:
Click and hold down the toolbar's Play button until a popover appears
Use the popover to specify the frame rate, whether or not to auto-rotate, synchronize scale, etc.
To cancel an animation at any time, simply press the escape key on your keyboard.
When you save your document, all structures are automatically saved.
See Also