[chimerax-users] ChimeraX File Error :: .vdb File Not Recognized
Elaine Meng
meng at cgl.ucsf.edu
Tue Aug 24 08:39:05 PDT 2021
Hi Olivia,
You must be mixing up Chimera and ChimeraX ... they are two different programs!
For the others on the list: at the Virus Particle Explorer db, you can download crystal structures as "VIPER Coordinates" and that gives the file with the *.vdb file extension. E.g. from the Downloads menu on this page:
<http://viperdb.scripps.edu/Info_Page.php?VDB=1rb8>
In Chimera you can open a file ending in *.vdb directly. Although the file is actually PDB format (.pdb) it also contains information that Chimera uses to automatically generate the entire capsid from the single subunit coordinates in the file, using the Multiscale Models tool. Chimera documentation on this input file type:
<https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/filetypes.html#object>
If you want to stick with Chimera, there is a separate list for asking questions: chimera-users at cgl.ucsf.edu
ChimeraX does not know the *.vdb suffix. You could change the filename to end in .pdb instead and just open it as a regular PDB file but that would just show the single subunit. Here are the file types ChimeraX knows:
<https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/open.html#formats>
If you want to use ChimeraX, rather than trying to figure out how to make the capsid from the file that was renamed from .vdb to .pdb, it would be simpler to just get that same entry from the PDB databank itself instead, e.g. command
open 1rb8
... that gets the structure in mmCIF format along with its symmetry information, and the Log will automatically show this table (see image attached below) in which you can click the "1" link to generate the whole capsid.
I hope this helps,
Elaine
-----
Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D.
UCSF Chimera(X) team
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
University of California, San Francisco
> On Aug 24, 2021, at 7:44 AM, Olivia Leland via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users at cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I’m trying to upload a .vdb file from the Virus Particle Explorer databank. To my understanding, I should be able to upload a .vdb file for visualization. Every time I try to open said file, however, it returns the error:
>
> <Screen Shot 2021-08-24 at 10.35.11 AM.png>
>
> Is there a setting I haven’t activated in order to upload this file properly? Additionally, I’m unable to connect the software to the internet so I can’t use File>Fetch By ID... (it won’t show up for me)
> <Screen Shot 2021-08-24 at 10.36.41 AM.png>
>
> Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this?
>
> Best,
>
> Olivia Leland (she/her)
>
> Doctoral Student || Fraden Lab
> Martin A. Fisher School of Physics
> Brandeis University
> Waltham, MA 02453
>
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