- ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

Re: [chimerax-users] 4D imaging - metadata and time slider
by Mateusz Biesaga 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

Hi all, I use ChimeraX for 4D visualization and so far I am very satisfied with the results, thank you for this amazing tool! I have a two questions: - While presenting data that changes in time (xyt or xyzt as I do in Chimera) it is usually required to display the timing on the image. Is there a way to access the metadata and display it, possibly using 2dlabels function? I work particularly with TIFF files. - After I upgraded Chimera to second alpha release, I can see no time slider above the command line. I open my 4D data using asterisk in the filename, as described in tutorial: http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/data/light-apr2017/light4d.html Is there a new way of accessing this slider? Thanks, Mateusz

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ChimeraX alpha 2 release available
by Elaine Meng 17 Aug '17

17 Aug '17

Hi everybody, Earlier this week, we made a second alpha release of ChimeraX. It’s available in the download page, along with the earlier alpha release and the ongoing daily builds. <http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/download.html> To help you decide when and if to update, we’ve also created a change log listing some of the more significant changes and when they occurred. We intend to keep adding to it as development proceeds. <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/wiki/ChangeLog> Enjoy! Elaine ---------- Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D. UCSF Chimera(X) team Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of California, San Francisco

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Remote control?
by Simon Smith 24 Jul '17

24 Jul '17

I'm trying to find a way to mirror ChimeraX commands from one machine onto several others running on a network. Could someone tell me if the 'remotecontrol' command would be a good way to do this, and if so, how I could get started using it? As far as I can tell there's no documentation available for it yet. Thanks, Simon

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VR Features
by Fortney, Christopher (NIH/OD/ORS) [C] 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

Hello Chimera X Team, My name is Chris Fortney - I run the VR Program at the NIH Library. We've been using ChimeraX for VR demonstrations here for some time now, ever since James Tyrwhitt-Drake (3D Print Exchange, NIAID) and I first installed it here earlier this year. The word has spread at NIH - people like ChimeraX for VR! I was hoping I could just email you to introduce myself, and to give feedback on the main features that have been requested. The first being the ability to make selections and then view/add labels while in VR. The second being the ability to add additional cameras to the scene. This would be especially useful for mixed reality. We have a green screen here, and would love the ability to drop a 3rd camera into the scene for that. Being able to add additional cameras could be very useful to run multiple headsets in the same scene, so that two scientists could work on the same structure at the same time. Looking forward to hearing back, keep up the excellent work! It definitely has not gone unnoticed over here. Thanks, Chris Fortney

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Tool autostart
by Eric Pettersen 19 Jul '17

19 Jul '17

You can now control which tools are auto-started when ChimeraX starts by bringing up a context menu over the tool (typically by right clicking) and toggling “Start this tool at ChimeraX startup” on/off. This works for all tools/toolbars. It’s a little tricky for the Python shell tool in that that tool’s builtin context menu is pretty handy so we didn’t want to replace it. To control that tool’s autostart you have to position the mouse on the thin border that surrounds the type-in area and bring up a context menu there. That menu will have the autostart entry in it. —Eric Eric Pettersen UCSF Computer Graphics Lab

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Saving PDB files
by Eric Pettersen 18 Jul '17

18 Jul '17

ChimeraX can now save PDB files. See the documentation for the ‘save’ command <http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/save.html> for details. You can also save PDB files from the File->Save dialog, but since the dialog does not yet display the command options, they will have their default values. That may be good enough in some cases. —Eric Eric Pettersen UCSF Computer Graphics Lab

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Re: [chimerax-users] [Chimera-users] Is it possible to dump out the SAS surface points calculated by ChimeraX?
by Elaine Meng 10 Jul '17

10 Jul '17

Hello Francois, (There is a chimerax-users e-mail list, CC’d here.) Note that the surface displayed in Chimera and ChimeraX is the SES, not the SAS. For spacing of points, see the “surface” command option “gridSpacing” — use ChimeraX command “help surface” or view the help at our website: <http://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/surface.html#options> Use ChimeraX command “save formats” to see what formats you can save. STL or X3D would include the surface vertices, I believe. For full details on “save” use command “help save” or see the copy here: <http://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/save.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 Jul 10, 2017, at 2:01 AM, Francois BERENGER <berenger(a)bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote: > > Hello, > I am not interested by surface normals, > the 3D coordinates would be enough. > > Is it possible to control the surface sampling of the surfacing algorithm? > Like with a number of points per Angstrom^2 parameter? > Thanks a lot, > Francois. >

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H bonds
by Eric Pettersen 30 Jun '17

30 Jun '17

ChimeraX can now find hydrogens bonds. The “hbonds” command is very similar to the same command in Chimera 1. The principal difference is that since ChimeraX uses cylinders instead of lines to depict the hydrogen bonds, the “lineType” and “lineWidth” keywords have been replaced with “dashes” and “radius” (and the hydrogen bonds are now dashed by default). Full details are available with “help hbonds” or at this link: http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/hbonds.html <http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/hbonds.html> Unfortunately, the hydrogen bond computation is also slower than in Chimera 1. We are working on that. —Eric Eric Pettersen UCSF Computer Graphics Lab

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From Arun: Request for information
by Arun Prasad Chopra 23 Jun '17

23 Jun '17

Dear Sir, I was using Chimerax software to identify the residues (aminoacids and nucleotide) that are interacting and also if we can know the binding energy of this transcription factor with DNA motif. I would be thankful for helping me identifying the residues. The PDB file is enclosed Thanks and Best Regards Arun -- Arun P. Chopra, Ph.D. Associate Prof., Department of Biotechnology Hindustan College of Science and Technology, Farha, Mathura 281 122 UP, India Cell # + 921 969 7932, 956 800 6057 http://hcst.edu.in/ http://www.sgei.org/

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Cheat Sheet for ChimeraX
by Dan Echelman 20 Jun '17

20 Jun '17

Hi all, I'm just getting started on ChimeraX and was wondering if anyone had made a quick reference sheet for the commands? Thanks and best! Daniel

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Initialzing core
by Hernando J Sosa 16 Jun '17

16 Jun '17

Dear ChimeraX team, I just downloaded/installed ChimeraX (64 for windows, latest daily build & PC running Windows 7) but when starting the programs hangs with the message Initializing Core and an image of the group (Nice picture though!). Anything I should do differently? (Chimera 11.2 runs fine in the same computer). Thanks Hernando

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NoGUI mode?
by Simon Smith 16 Jun '17

16 Jun '17

Can someone tell me if the --nogui command is working currently? Trying one of the recent daily builds on my computer and ChimeraX refuses to launch if I add this flag. If there's some other way to get ChimeraX to display graphics without having toolbars and other windows on the side, please let me know. We're trying to get it to work in a multi monitor setup and being able to display the graphics only would be very helpful. Simon Smith

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ChimeraX on Github?
by Tom Goddard 13 Jun '17

13 Jun '17

Oliver Clarke writes: Re this - dumb q, but have you considered moving to Github or similar for chimeraX? It would make it easier to know (as a user) whether a bug has been reported already or not, and perhaps also provide a way for you guys to quantify the perceived desirability of feature requests and bug fixes (which as you say the mailing list is not so good for). Loving the capacity to select atoms through maps in ChimeraX now by the way, it works really well! Cheers Oli

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Getting stereo to work
by Simon Smith 09 Jun '17

09 Jun '17

Hello, We're trying to get ChimeraX to work with our sequential stereo setup (Quadro 5000, driver 369.26). Using the 'camera stereo' command always gives the error message 'Do not have stereo OpenGL context', even when using the --stereo command line flag. Setting the right stereo settings in Nvidia Control Panel hasn't made a difference either. Does anyone have any hints/ideas on how to get this to work? Thanks, Simon

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Re: [chimerax-users] Inconsistencies in text entry behavior
by Tom Goddard 02 Jun '17

02 Jun '17

Hi Oliver, I see — when you click into the graphics pane and type a letter or number in Chimera 1, the command entry field takes the focus (you see it outlined) and the up arrow and down arrow keys traverse the command history. But in ChimeraX the command entry field does not take the focus, and up and down arrow promote the selection. I’m not sure which behavior is better, but I’ve made a ticket to possibly change ChimeraX to behave like Chimera. http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/703 <http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/703> Tom > On Jun 2, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Oliver Clarke <olibclarke(a)gmail.com <mailto:olibclarke@gmail.com>> wrote: > > Ah yes - sorry Tom I misspoke - I was actually thinking specifically of the scenario where a residue is *not* selected. E.g. You are turning the model using the mouse, and you want to type a command altering display parameters - e.g. clipping and such. > > In this case, typing works fine in both chimera and chimeraX, but scrolling through the history using up or shift-up only works in chimera - in chimeraX you need to click on the command line such that a text cursor is visible. > > Oli > > On Jun 2, 2017, at 9:03 PM, Tom Goddard <goddard(a)sonic.net <mailto:goddard@sonic.net>> wrote: > >> In Chimera or ChimeraX if you select a residue in the graphics window, you can then directly type a command. But if you press the up arrow or down arrow key it extends the selection to the whole helix or strand or turn, or demotes the selection — it does not allow you to traverse previous commands in the command-line. I just tested on Mac and it works that way on both. >> >> But maybe you mean you have clicked into some other ChimeraX panel, not the graphics window and then up / down arrows don’t traverse the command-line history or promote selection, although commands can be typed. For instance clicking into the ChimeraX log I suspect up/down arrow actually do something in that html panel, but I’m not sure what. In Chimera, clicking into the reply log blocks not only up/down arrow but all keys from going to the command line. So I don’t understand your case. But I believe the Qt window toolkit sometimes has default up/down arrow bindings on the panel you are clicked into that might not make sense. Explain your exact case and send it to chimerax-bugs(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax-bugs@cgl.ucsf.edu> — probably better than the user mailing list. >> >> Tom >> >> >>> On Jun 2, 2017, at 12:33 AM, Oliver Clarke <olibclarke(a)gmail.com <mailto:olibclarke@gmail.com>> wrote: >>> >>> Hi, >>> >>> The ChimeraX command line, similar to Chimera, is active no matter where the mouse cursor is positioned. So I can have a residue selected, and start typing a command directly - so far so good. >>> >>> However, in Chimera, once I start typing, I can then page through the command history, using the up arrow or shift-up to filter by substring. >>> >>> In ChimeraX, this doesn’t work - the command line receives text input, but in order to then page through the history, I need to actively click on the command line entry bar to activate it - it would be good if this behavior was altered to that of regular chimera. >>> >>> Apologies for the vague description, hope that made sense! >>> >>> Cheers >>> Oli >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> ChimeraX-users mailing list >>> ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:ChimeraX-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> >>> Manage subscription: >>> http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users <http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users> >>> >>

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oddness with using right mouse button to adjust map contour
by Oliver Clarke 02 Jun '17

02 Jun '17

Hi, Using the right mouse button to adjust map contour works very well at volume step 2, but displays odd behavior at step 1. This may of course be a slow computer issue (MacBook pro 2015 13”, integrated graphics), but figured I’d report it in any case. Specifically what happens, is as I right click drag, the map contour appears to adjust correctly, but then when I release the mouse button, the map jerks back to a very low contour. Cheers Oli

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Mesh lighting off?
by Oliver Clarke 02 Jun '17

02 Jun '17

Hi, Is there any way at present to turn mesh lighting off in ChimeraX? Cheers Oli

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Inconsistencies in text entry behavior
by Oliver Clarke 02 Jun '17

02 Jun '17

Hi, The ChimeraX command line, similar to Chimera, is active no matter where the mouse cursor is positioned. So I can have a residue selected, and start typing a command directly - so far so good. However, in Chimera, once I start typing, I can then page through the command history, using the up arrow or shift-up to filter by substring. In ChimeraX, this doesn’t work - the command line receives text input, but in order to then page through the history, I need to actively click on the command line entry bar to activate it - it would be good if this behavior was altered to that of regular chimera. Apologies for the vague description, hope that made sense! Cheers Oli

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XYZ format
by Mike Goodstadt 01 Jun '17

01 Jun '17

Hi! Many thanks for the great work on this new version. Does ChimeraX support XYZ files? Chimera did but I get an “unrecognized filetype” error in ChimeraX. Best regards, Mike Goodstadt mikegoodstadt(a)gmail.com skype: mikegoodstadt +34 653 756 614

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Global toggle for volume/model display?
by Oliver Clarke 01 Jun '17

01 Jun '17

Hi, In old chimera, often I will have a few maps loaded, but only one or two specific ones displayed (and similarly for models). Frequently, I want to turn off the display of model information, in order to just see the desired map(s) or vice-versa, and then return to the original display, but there is no convenient way of doing this - I have to go to the volume viewer or model panel and check or uncheck the desired models. Would it be possible to add global toggles for the display of model/map information for this purpose, perhaps implemented as toolbar buttons? Cheers Oli

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Re: [chimerax-users] Suggestion - add shortcuts for Ca trace, Ca+sidechains
by Tom Goddard 30 May '17

30 May '17

It seems that ChimeraX does not display CA traces — it shows just the atoms with no bonds between them. I see that CA-only structures do draw dashed lines between the CA atoms. I’ll have to ask Eric Pettersen on Tuesday what the plan is for depicting CA traces — apparently the mechanism that creates the pseudobonds between CA atoms automatically as is done in Chimera is not in ChimeraX. Tom > On May 26, 2017, at 10:03 AM, Oliver Clarke wrote: > > Sounds great!! > > Alternative - have a C-alpha trace button and show/hide side-chain/base button? > > That way if you do all atoms, you could quickly hide/show side chains, or if you’re displaying C-alpha trace and you want to quickly pop on side chains you can do so also? (Could also add this as a custom button of course) > > Cheers > Oli >> On May 26, 2017, at 1:00 PM, Tom Goddard wrote: >> >> Yes a C-alpha trace toolbar button would be nice — I’ll add that. The random atom color toolbar button is just for laughs — I’ll retire that one when I add C-alpha trace. The C-alpha trace plus side-chain doesn’t seem too different from full backbone + side chain in visual complexity, and backbone + sidechain already has a toolbar button (show all atoms). I’m thinking maybe that would be a toolbar button you could add as a customization. I plan to add a command soon where you can add new toolbar buttons (you specify and image file for icon and the command to execute using a command e.g. "toolbar add “CA trace” icon iconfile.png command "show selAtoms & @CA” shortcut ca” and it would be remembered in a preference file. Another useful one would be your thick backbone and thin side-chain sticks. >> >> Tom >> >> >>> On May 26, 2017, at 7:35 AM, Oliver Clarke wrote: >>> >>> Hi, >>> >>> Frequently when looking at models in medium resolution maps (~4-5 Å), it is valuable to view the C-alpha trace when assessing model map fit (or making figures to show such). >>> >>> At slightly higher resolution, where side chains are obvious but backbone torsions cannot be modeled based on the map alone, representing the C-alpha trace with sidechains displayed is often desirable (examples of both attached). >>> >>> It looks like there is space in the upper toolbar for additional buttons - perhaps adding a button for a Calpha trace representation (equivalent would be P for nuclei acids) and one for a Calpha+sidechain/base representation may be worth considering? (I’m also not convinced of the value of the random atom colors representation as a shortcut, but maybe there is a use case I’m missing?) >>> >>> Cheers >>> Oli >>> <Screenshot 2017-05-26 10.34.38.png><Screenshot 2017-05-26 10.34.25.png> >>> <Screenshot 2017-05-26 10.23.18.png> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> ChimeraX-users mailing list >>> ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu >>> Manage subscription: >>> http://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users >> > >

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button for next/previous volume?
by Oliver Clarke 30 May '17

30 May '17

Hi, I frequently encounter the issue in “old” chimera where I have a bunch of different maps and I want to switch between them one by one, to better perceive differences or look at them in concert with another model. This is kind of tedious using the volume viewer, especially when many volumes are loaded concurrently Would it be possible to add next/previous volume buttons as shortcuts for this? I would envision this as follows: If multiple volumes are currently displayed, display the one with the lowest #ID and undisplay the rest. If a single volume is displayed, hide it and display the one with the next or previous ID (in a circular fashion, such that the next from the highest ID is the first ID. I have similar shortcuts in Coot which I use all the time and find very helpful for this purpose. Cheers Oli

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Scale bar?
by Oliver Clarke 30 May '17

30 May '17

Hi, it would be nice (when using orthographic projection) to have the option of a dynamically updating scale bar integrated into the main display. This would be helpful when analyzing structures and also when making figures. Cheers Oli

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Suggestion - add shortcuts for Ca trace, Ca+sidechains
by Oliver Clarke 26 May '17

26 May '17

Hi, Frequently when looking at models in medium resolution maps (~4-5 Å), it is valuable to view the C-alpha trace when assessing model map fit (or making figures to show such). At slightly higher resolution, where side chains are obvious but backbone torsions cannot be modeled based on the map alone, representing the C-alpha trace with sidechains displayed is often desirable (examples of both attached). It looks like there is space in the upper toolbar for additional buttons - perhaps adding a button for a Calpha trace representation (equivalent would be P for nuclei acids) and one for a Calpha+sidechain/base representation may be worth considering? (I’m also not convinced of the value of the random atom colors representation as a shortcut, but maybe there is a use case I’m missing?) Cheers Oli

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UI suggestion - modifier key for map selection/interaction
by Oliver Clarke 25 May '17

25 May '17

Hi, Often I want to select or hover over (to reveal tooltip info) atoms located under a transparent surface or mesh. It is much less common to want to select a volume with ctrl-click in my experience. Would it be possible to add a modifier (e.g. Shift or alt/option) for volume selection, and otherwise default to selection of/interaction with the atomic model(s)? I feel like since ChimeraX deals mostly with these two data types, often in combination, having a clear way to distinguish interaction with them would be useful - it adds one extra step to be able to see atoms under a mesh, go to the volume viewer and turn of the required volume or volumes before selecting/identifying them - what do you think? Cheers Oli

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