Jun 07, 2025   Jun 07, 2025

ChimeraX

ChimeraX is a computational Bio-Visualization Software for academic purposes.

Key2Movie

Key2Movie is a Plugin, which can be interpreted by the Python3-API of the computational Bio-Visualization Software ChimeraX (>= 1.7.1).

Its purpose is to interpolate images (PNG, JPG and BMP image formats supported) either between Camera-Positions or of an Atomic-Model operation (supporting an explosion) or of an Volume-Model operation (supporting the styles „surface“, „plane“ and „tilted slab“). Furthermore the Plugin encodes those interpolated images into a movie-clip (MP4, WMV and MKV movie format supported).

Interpolation results

Rotational camera-path

Linear camera-path

Atomic expansion

Polypeptide-expansion of Nuclear Core Complex

Volume-Operations (with Outlinebox)

Volume-Operations

ChimeraX-Plugin Development

Check out my compendium about Plugin-Development on ChimeraX (through its Python3-API) and the math and code about interpolation between many camera-scenes and object keyframes, that Key2Movie is based on:

Compendium through ChimeraX-Plugin Development     (Jun 07, 2025)

and its

appendix

Also included is a step-by-step guide showing multiple ways of how to read and manipulate Protein-Database (=PDB)-Files by pandas and numpy with focus on performance and passing its results into new ChimeraX-AtomicStructures.