[chimerax-users] ChimeraX save formats and recording image frames

[Elaine Meng]

Hi Daniel,
(1) alembic is not one of the current save formats.  You can see the list of output formats in the Log of ChimeraX by using command "save formats" or check the current documentation (which would refer to current daily build):
<https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/save.html#formats>

(2) Yes, you can have ChimeraX command scripts that do all kinds of stuff (motions, zooming, show/hide, coloring, etc.) and include "movie record" to start recording image frames, "movie stop" to stop recording, and "movie encode" to actually create the movie file if you want.  However, you could just use the frames.  The "movie record" command has options for image format and save location, and "movie encode" has options for how the images are assembled into a single movie file.  See "making movies"
<https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/movies.html>

...and details for "movie" command
<https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/movie.html>

I hope this helps,
Elaine
-----
Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D.                       
UCSF Chimera(X) team
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
University of California, San Francisco

> On Jun 22, 2022, at 7:17 PM, Daniel VillanuevaAvalos via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users at cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hello Elaine,
> 
> I am trying to decide if it is better for me to invest time into learning Chimera X or if I should just keep using Houdini FX for most of the animation and rendering. So, there are two things that I have been trying to do but have not been able to find an answer:
> 
> 1. Is there a way to export some kind of alembic file from Chimera X to import it into Houdini or Maya? I want to export a molecule changing conformation, but I don't see an .abc export option in the documentation. 
> 2. My other question is if there is a way to render a sequence of images from Chimera X to then import them as a png sequence into After Effects. I was able to render an individual frame but I don´t know if I can render a whole sequence.
> 
> Thank you, 
> Daniel.
> 
> P.S. Chimera X is amazing
> 
> El mar, 21 jun 2022 a la(s) 20:14, Daniel VillanuevaAvalos (danielvillanuevaavalos at gmail.com) escribió:
> Thank you very much. 
> And yes, I'm using chimera x. 
> 
> Daniel.
> 
> El mar, 21 jun 2022 a la(s) 16:03, Elaine Meng (meng at cgl.ucsf.edu) escribió:
> Hi Daniel,
> The "sym" command for building the multimer from monomer has both a "center" option and an "axis" option that you may need to use for helical symmetry.
> 
> I'm not sure which program you are using, since the subject line of the message says "Chimera" but you sent it to chimerax-users.
> 
> Here is the ChimeraX help for "sym":
> <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/sym.html>
> 
> Here is the Chimera help for "sym" (very similar but not the same as in Chimera):
> <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/midas/sym.html>
> 
> If it is really a Chimera question, (for next time) you could send it to chimera-users at cgl.ucsf.edu instead.
> 
> Sym is just for building the multimer.  It won't change the coordinates to make them closer to the origin.
> 
> I hope this helps,
> Elaine
> -----
> Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D.                       
> UCSF Chimera(X) team
> Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
> University of California, San Francisco
> 
> 
> > On Jun 21, 2022, at 2:41 PM, Daniel VillanuevaAvalos via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users at cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:
> > 
> > Hello,
> > I am trying to create a spirosome, and I am entering   sym #1 h,56.5,164.4,12 but the radius of the helix is wrong. How can I change it? What I am trying to do is move my obj closer to origin but I cannot find a way to do that. I can only move the pivot to center with cofr 0,0,0. 
> > Thank you, 
> > Daniel.