Hi, We've just put a new snapshot release of Chimera up for download on the web site (http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera). Here are the highlights of the changes between this snapshot (1.1917) and the previous one (1.1892): tools: Match -> Align can create sequence alignments for multiple matched structures (not just pairs) Multalign Viewer can show/edit sequence annotations for relevant formats (RSF, Stockholm) SimpleSession -- saves label font/size and secondary structure assignments -- compiles to .pyc file: 50% less memory use, 15% less time to restore added Export Surfaces as VRML (in Utilities category) -- save surfaces made by Multiscale Models and Volume Viewer as VRML files added Browser Configuration (also in Utilities) -- configure browsers to send certain file types to Chimera (see also new Web Data preferences) FindHBond and PBReader allow line width to be set Movie has preliminary support for reading GROMOS trajectories newly available commands: bondcolor -- color bonds independent of flanking atoms bonddisplay -- set how bond display depends on flanking atom display bondrepr -- set bond representation to be wire or stick (independent of atoms) hbonds -- command equivalent of FindHBond tool rlabel -- whether residue name/number is included in the first atom label per residue Model Panel new 'render attrs...' button allows coloring by model/residue/atom attributes (e.g. B-factor) The 'render attrs...' interface is in preliminary form and will be changing. It also isn't documented yet but is pretty easy to use. Just pick an attribute of interest and a histogram of values will be displayed. By default there will be three color bars on the histogram that you can grab and move around with the mouse, or add or remove with control-click. You can use the 'Color' color well to set the color of the last bar you picked. The 'No value' color well is used in the rare case of the attribute being missing (or set to None) in the atom/residue/model. Click Apply or OK to make the coloring happen. Several parts of the interface are grayed out since they haven't been implemented yet. In the future you will be able to select by attribute value, and change atom radii or ribbon widths based on attribute values. If you are using the last production release (1.1872) instead of the previous snapshot, then you will also be getting these features when you go to 1.1917: general: additional file formats for saved images (PS, EPS) different lighting scheme in graphics window (over-the-shoulder instead of headlight) tools: added Shininess Control (in Viewing Parameters) -- adjust shininess, brightness, and the color used for shiny highlights Collaboratory section in Preferences allows designation of port number and IP address (for firewalls/NAT) Movie -- allows definition of scripts to be run at each time step -- looping can be turned off Multalign Viewer allows structure selection by arbitrary % residue conservation Volume Viewer options added to subdivide and smooth isosurfaces commands: copy command now offers supersampling and PS/EPS formats new ribbackbone command controls whether ribbon and backbone atoms are shown simultaneously Enjoy! Eric Pettersen UCSF Computer Graphics Lab pett@cgl.ucsf.edu http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu