3DMolSym > Help > Controlling the Molecule

Overview

Once a molecule is selected and displayed on the 3D Screen, the user has full control on its orientation and position. Furthermore four preferred viewpoints of the molecule can be stored and recalled at any time.

To rotate a molecule use the Rotate Panel or directly click and drag the molecule.

To adjust how far or how close the molecule appears (zoom in or zoom out) use the Zoom Panel or the Translate Panel.

To translate the molecule across any axis, use the Translate panel.

To recall molecule’s initial viewpoint, use the Reset View button.

To store and recall molecule´s viewpoints use the Captured Views panel.

Direct Rotation

A selected and displayed on the 3D Screen molecule can be freely rotated by clicking anywhere in the 3D Screen and dragging the mouse around. The molecule’s orientation changes according to the mouse movement.

Furthermore the user can directly rotate the molecule around a specific axis by dragging the mouse while holding down the following special keys.

SHIFT Horizontal Rotate about Y-axis
CONTROL Vertical Rotate about Z-axis
SHIFT + CONTROL Vertical Rotate about X-axis

Rotate Panel

Use the Rotate Panel to rotate the molecule around a specific axis (x, y or z) of the 3D screen.

Drag inside each panel to rotate the selected molecule manually. The angle of the rotation is shown under the panel

Press the left or right buttons of each panel to rotate the selected molecule with a constant rate.

Zoom Panel

Use the Zoom Panel to adjust how far or how close the molecule will appear in the 3D Screen (zoom in and zoom out).

Translate Panel

Use the Translate panel to move the molecule on the 3D Screen’s xy-plane or to translate it on the z-axis. The image of the Translate panel displays a thumbnail of the 3D Screen.

To move the molecule around in the xy-plane, drag the mouse in any direction within the limits of the Translate panel.

To translate the molecule on z-axis hold down the SHIFT key and drag the mouse up (zoom in) or down (zoom out) within the limits of the Translate panel.

Capture Views Panel

Use the Captured views panel to store and recall favorite viewpoints of the molecule shown in the 3D Screen.

The Captured views panel has four viewpoint holders. Clicking in an empty holder stores the current viewpoint and shows a thumbnail of the viewpoint.

To store a viewpoint in a holder already having a viewpoint, hold down the SHIFT key and click the holder. The new viewpoint replaces the old one.

To recall a stored viewpoint, click on the holder showing the viewpoint.

Reset View Button

Click the Reset View button to recall molecule’s initial size and orientation.