- ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

Zone map around center of rotation?
by Oliver Clarke 02 Sep '23

02 Sep '23

Hi, Surface zone allows one to carve the map in a sphere around a selected atom (with “nearAtoms”). When navigating around the map, it would be convenient to be able to use the center of rotation as a reference point instead. Would it be possible at some point to add a “nearCofR” option to surface zone to facilitate this? In Chimera, I had kind of a hack-y way to do this, by placing a marker atom at the center of rotation and using that as the reference, but this option is not yet available in ChimeraX. Cheers Oli

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Set defaults for molecule display?
by Oliver Clarke 01 Sep '23

01 Sep '23

Hi, Is there anyway to set default preferences for molecule display? Currently it seems to vary (I think?) based on the number of atoms in the model - so relatively small proteins will load as ribbons, while larger ones will load in sphere representation. I would rather set a default such that all molecules load as ribbons, rainbow colored by chain. Is this possible? Cheers Oli

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morph for non-protein atoms?
by Alexis Rohou 01 Sep '23

01 Sep '23

Hello, The documentation for morph reads very protein-centric, and testing it with default options certainly makes it look like ligands are removed. Is there a way to have ligands included in a morph (assuming the same atoms are present in both models)? Cheers, Alexis

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getting HEX code from molecule
by Matzov Donna 01 Sep '23

01 Sep '23

Hello, I was wondering if there's a command that would give me the HEX code of a particular atomspec. Using the "pick from screen" option in the color editor is somewhat helpful samples the colors that are the results of shadows so I can't really the exact color. Thanks, Donna Matzov, PhD Department of Structural Biology Weizmann Institute of Science The Shalev-Benami Lab<https://www.weizmann.ac.il/Structural_Biology/Shalev-Benami/home>

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Structure Comparison->Morph conformations
by Revan Katte 01 Sep '23

01 Sep '23

Hello, For morphing my structures, I'm using ChimeraX 1.6.1, but I cannot find structure comparison and morph conformations in the tool menu. Could you please assist me with this? Thank you! Revan -- Revan Katte, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate, Prof. Maolin Lu Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Tyler, Texas 75708, USA. E-mail: *Revansiddha.Katte(a)uthct.edu <Revansiddha.Katte(a)uthct.edu>* Professional Website: Google Scholar <https://scholar.google.com.tw/citations?user=phuOXjgAAAAJ&hl=en> LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-revan-katte-3b53a788/>

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More shades in color byattribute
by Enrico Martinez 01 Sep '23

01 Sep '23

Dear Chimera-X users ! I am using ChimeraX to color pdb file according to its structural flexibility determined in the b-factor column color byattribute bfactor palette rainbow range 2,100 This info is taken directly from the rmsf calculations of short MD trajectory and stored in a single pdb structure in the b-factor column. Technically It works very well, however in the case of flexible systems, the most of the structures is colored in "red". I enclose a screenshot of an example image along with the corresponded rmsf chart. Would it be possible to define the gradient of the coloring in more accurate fashion in order that the red zones could have more shades ? I believe this could be fine-tuned via the "range 2, 100 " attribute and / or switching to other palettes e.g. 'Paired-12' , which naturally has more shades compared to 'rainbow' .. I would be grateful for any further suggestions ! Yours with thanks, Enrico

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Render by attribute - custom rmsd
by Dominik Sordyl 31 Aug '23

31 Aug '23

Hi, I am developing the custom plugin for sequence alignment and structure superposition, that will have it's own sequence viewer. I would like to use 'Render by attribute" feature of ChimeraX 1.16. But without using 'matchmaker ... show True' I do not have such option. Is there a way to pass the rmsd values for superimposed structures' residues to be available for 'render by attribute'? While looking through the ChimeraX source code, I have noticed that it uses Sequence Viewer headers to store rmsd, but I can not figure out how can I add such thing to my plugin. Best, Dominik

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Trouble installing plugin
by BARRY E DEZONIA 30 Aug '23

30 Aug '23

I am having trouble installing a plugin I am developing. It works on one system I am using at work and fails on my system at home. The home system has the latest daily build on it. The work system has an earlier daily build on it. This is what I try to do inside chimerax: devel install ~/dev/bphon/chimerax-plugin/tut_tool_qt And this is the installation error: open /usr/lib/ucsf-chimerax-daily/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip/__pip-runner__.pyTraceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/lib/ucsf-chimerax-daily/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip/__pip-runner__.py", line 49, in <module> assert __name__ == "__main__", "Cannot run __pip-runner__.py as a non-main module" AssertionError: Cannot run __pip-runner__.py as a non-main module Error opening python file /usr/lib/ucsf-chimerax-daily/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip/__pip-runner__.py Any idea what is happening? I may have run into this problem some time ago on the work computer and fixed it but I honestly don't know. Please forward this to the bugs email list of it should go there instead. Thanks. Sorry for yet another question. You guy seems very busy with mail recently.

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Coloring by Ca-RMSD
by Abhilash Padvannil 30 Aug '23

30 Aug '23

Hello, I am working with a multi-subunit protein. I aligned current structure with a previously determined structure using mm command. I am trying to color my protein using RMSD. Chimerax is however, coloring only one-subunit by RMSD, the other chains have default colors. Is there a way to color the whole molecule with RMSD attribute. Thanks Abhilash.

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Camera Viewfinder
by Vytautas Raškevičius 30 Aug '23

30 Aug '23

Hi It would be nice to have camera viewfinder to make images. Like here: https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Viewfinder-v… So it would be much easier to put something in center exactly and so. VR

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How to reduce subdivision of the mesh?
by HL F 29 Aug '23

29 Aug '23

Dear ChimeraX Development Team, I hope this email finds you well. First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for developing such a powerful and invaluable tool like ChimeraX. Your dedication to providing the scientific community with a free and versatile platform is truly remarkable. I am writing to inquire about a technical aspect related to exporting 3D models in ChimeraX. I'm using ChimeraX-1.1.1 to export protein meshes(surface model) into Blender. I've got a problem that the mesh is too smooth which means it has too many vertices. And that makes my Blender run very slow. Is there a way to reduce the subdivision(resolution/vertex number) of the mesh in ChimeraX? Thank you very much! Looking forward to your reply. Regards, Hualing [image: image.png]

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updating session with new version of model
by Alexis Rohou 28 Aug '23

28 Aug '23

Hi there, I have a nice figure saved as a .cxs session file. But I've since had to change the PDB file to refine the model. I think myself and others have asked this in the past, and there isn't a way to substitute one PDB file for another in a ChimeraX session file. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Failing that, I have to recreate the same display style (colors, ribbon vs sticks vs balls, etc) with the new PDB file. What I was thinking of doing is to save a series of files containing attributes' values from the original model (with option ModelId set to false), and then open these files back and read the attribute values into the new model. Things like display, draw_mode, color, ribbon_display, ribbon_color, etc. In principle, do you think this approach should work? One stumbling block: I can't seem to save the display attribute. Specifically, the following command: > save browse format defattr attrName a:display models #1 modelId false Gives the following output in the log: > One or more attribute values aren't integer, floating-point, string or > None (e.g. False); skipping those > Saved attribute 'display' of 0 atoms using match mode: 1-to-1 to > <filename_redacted> This is with version 1.6.1 (2023-05-09). I have tried with other attributes (e.g. draw_mode), and they seemed to work. What is the correct way to save the atom display attribute to file? Cheers, Alexis

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How allow a plugin to save a startup setting
by BARRY E DEZONIA 28 Aug '23

28 Aug '23

Hello, I am developing a plugin. One attribute my plugin has is an output directory. I want to save that value somewhere so that if you exit chimerax, come back in, and reload my plugin the output directory value will default to what it was during the last run, I've read a bit about session data and preference data and I don't think they get at what I want. I might be able to make my app save a data file in the installed plugin directory (and read it on startup) but maybe there will be things like permissions issues trying to do something like this. Any suggestions on how to do what I want to do?

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Re: [Chimera-users] Atlocs
by Elaine Meng 28 Aug '23

28 Aug '23

Hi Hernando, ChimeraX has an Altloc Explorer tool (also implemented as "altlocs" command) that lists all the residues with alt locs and allows switching which ones are used: <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/tools/altlocexplorer.html> The rules that ChimeraX uses for deciding which ones to show initially are described in that link, namely: "For each contiguous (through-bond) set of atoms with alternate locations, the location used initially is that with the highest average atomic occupancy, then as a tie-breaker, the lowest average atomic B-factor, and if a tie-breaker is still needed, by alphabetical order of the alternate location ID." We found that altloc A is not always the most occupied! So yes, this is a new feature of ChimeraX, but we also added the tool to make it easy to switch if you want to use a different altloc than what is shown initially. By the way: You may be interested that there is a chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu list (CC'd here) specifically for asking questions about ChimeraX. Since ChimeraX and Chimera are two different programs with different behaviors, we try to somewhat separate the questions so that people won't get too confused! 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 28, 2023, at 12:38 PM, Hernando J Sosa via Chimera-users <chimera-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote: > > Dear ChimeraX, > > I have an atomic model with several chains that have residues with alternate locations A and B. I noticed that > while Chimera by default displays alternate locations A. ChimeraX for some chains display alternate locations A and for other chains alternate locations B. Why is this behavior different in Chimera and ChimeraX? Is this a novel feature of ChimeraX? I this is the case how ChimeraX decides which of the two alternate locations A or B to display? > > Thanks > > Hernando

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consult
by UehkVt 27 Aug '23

27 Aug '23

Hi, I am using ChimeraX on Linux OS.I think ChimeraX only has a single-line command window which isn't convenient for complex script. I want to know there are other ways to type multiple-line command and display protein structure whin ChimeraX at real time. could Jupyter notebook combine with ChimeraX? When we type command in Jupyter notebook, ChimeraX could display the result of the command.Could you tell me the method that can solve the above issue? Thanks! Sincerely!

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General developer questions
by BARRY E DEZONIA 25 Aug '23

25 Aug '23

Hello, I have been writing a plugin for ChimeraX. One feature it does now is read a PDB file, parse some info, and act on that data internally. I'd like to change it so that it can use information about a loaded PDB in ChimeraX. To this I have a couple questions: 1. Are there some basic docs on how someone could access a protein that is memory resident that was loaded from a PDB (i.e. just what data structures can I access programmatically related to a protein loaded with open(<pdbname>)). 1. How do I find the data structure(s) for the currently viewed or selected or ??? protein? I'd like someone to be viewing a protein and then launch my plugin which will use that protein and its data for the plugin's internal calculations. I'm sorry if this is noise. If there are good developer docs for these topics please feel free to point me in the right direction. Thanks.

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How to use ColorBrewer palette?
by Tianyang Liu (Staff) 25 Aug '23

25 Aug '23

Hello, I would like to colour my structure with the ColorBrewer palette using ChimeraX. But I can't seem to get it to work. I used the command: color bychain cartoons;palette Pastel1-9. The error message displayed is "Unknown command: palette Pastel1-9." Could you help me with this please? Many thanks, Tian

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Does getcrd return coordinates in pixels or in angstroms?
by Samuel Haysom 25 Aug '23

25 Aug '23

Hello, I am trying to determine the coordinates of a point on a volume for use in cryoSPARC (as described here for Chimera: Job: Local Refinement (Legacy) - CryoSPARC Guide<https://guide.cryosparc.com/processing-data/all-job-types-in-cryosparc/loca…>). I was wondering if the getcrd command returns coordinates in angstroms (as it did in Chimera) or whether they are in pixels? This was not specified on the getcrd documentation page as far as I could see (Command: getcrd (ucsf.edu)<https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/getcrd.html>). KR, Sam Samuel Haysom | Research Scientist | Biophysics Sosei Heptares | T: +44 (0)1223 949201 Steinmetz Building, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6DG, United Kingdom The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the exclusive attention of the addressee stated above and should not be copied or disclosed to any other. If you have received this transmission in error, please contact the sender immediately, make no use of its contents and delete this message from your system. Contact and registered office address: Heptares Therapeutics Limited, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6DG. Company No: 06267989.

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Changing Colors and Unable to Save as pdb File
by Natalia Tegenfeldt 25 Aug '23

25 Aug '23

I have been using chimerax to visualize the proteins I'm working with, and have been highlighting sections of the sequence and changing the color to highlight those sections, but when I try to save it as a pdb, it gets rid of the colors. Is there a different way to be able to keep a section highlighted/different color when I save it as a pdb file? Thanks!

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Question on Chemistry StackExchange regarding ChimeraX Python Log.
by nikolic＠uwm.edu 24 Aug '23

24 Aug '23

Hello, I'm developing a series of commands and presets for ChimeraX and run into the following trouble in self-support: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/q/175802/136866 Thank you! Nickolas Nikolic

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Play a volume morph
by James Kizziah 24 Aug '23

24 Aug '23

Hi, I need to record a movie of a modified volume morph focused on a small part of much larger structure. Is it possible to just play an existing morph with a command? I can generate the morph, volume zone to a reference atomic model, and make it transparent to visualize the features I'm interested in, but how can I record the movie after accomplishing these steps? Incorporating the volume morph command in a movie-making script regenerates the original morph without zoning our transparency. Thanks! James

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ViewDockX Options
by Ute Roehrig 24 Aug '23

24 Aug '23

Dear ChimeraX Developers, thank you very much for developing and providing ChimeraX! I was wondering if you could make the ViewDockX command more user friendly, especially providing the following features: 1. When opening a docking results file (format SwissDock/Dock/Vina/Glide), launch the ViewDockX tool automatically 2. In the ViewDockX table, provide the possibility to select several poses by Shift+clicking on several lines in the table (the way it was working in Chimera) 3. Let the user automatize/customize the columns he wants to see by default (provide columns as option in the command line?) Thank you very much for considering these points, Ute -- Ute Roehrig SIB | Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Unil, Quartier Sorge, bâtiment Amphipôle, 1015 Lausanne t: +41 21 692 40 86 - f: +41 21 692 40 65 Ute.Roehrig(a)sib.swiss<mailto:Ute.Roehrig@sib.swiss> - http://www.sib.swiss

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Re: Help with ChimeraX and dual extruder 3D printing
by Tom Goddard 24 Aug '23

24 Aug '23

Hi Billy, ChimeraX writes out the STL files using the coordinates in the ChimeraX scene, so the STL files contain aligned coordinates. The problem is your 3D printer software is changing the alignment. Here's an example of ChimeraX commands open 1eqz surf enclose protein surf enclose nucleic save histones.stl models #1.3 save dna.stl models #1.4 If you open these two STL files in ChimeraX you will see that they are aligned. The STL files only contain x,y,z coordinates and the format does not support any positioning transformations. So the 3D printer software cannot interpret the file in a different way. So your problem is to tell the printer software not to change the alignment given in the two files. Perhaps when you specify the origin in the printer software that origin is relative to the center of the surface bounding box, so it will center the two STL files differently. Tom > On Aug 23, 2023, at 9:40 AM, Dye, Billy via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote: > > I have been using ChimeraX to generate STL files for 3D printing models of a variety of protein structures that I use in my biology classes. I recently acquired a dual extrusion printer which should allow me to print models in two different colors. For example, I am currently trying to print a nucleosome from RCSB model 7PFX such that the DNA is printed blue from one extruder and the histones white from the second extruder. I am exporting two different STL files from ChimeraX, one with the DNA and one with the histones, and I am attempting to slice with FlashPrint 5 software for a FlashForge Creator Pro 2 printer. However, when I import the two STL files into the slicing software, they are not aligned. Even if I position both at 0,0,0 coordinates, it is obvious that the DNA and histones are not lining up properly. Is there a way to export the two STL files from ChimeraX such that they have a common reference point or origin and will thus align with one another when both are placed into the slicing software? > > Many thanks for your consideration and advice, > Billy Dye > > <PastedGraphic-2.png> > > _______________________________________________ > ChimeraX-users mailing list -- chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu > To unsubscribe send an email to chimerax-users-leave(a)cgl.ucsf.edu > Archives: https://mail.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/archives/list/chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu/

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Change default step size for volumes?
by Oliver Clarke 24 Aug '23

24 Aug '23

Hi, Is there any way in ChimeraX to change the default step size for volumes? There are volume commands (e.g. volume limitVoxelCount false) that look like they ought to do the trick but these only seem to apply to already opened volumes - is there a way to make it a persistent preference for newly opened volumes? In Chimera this was a setting in the Volume Viewer, but I can’t find an equivalent yet in ChimeraX in either the global settings or the docs for the volume command. Cheers Oli

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Saving the resolution of structure to a file
by Prathvi Singh 24 Aug '23

24 Aug '23

Hi Elaine, Is there a way to save the resolution of a protein structure to a file using command line, either in chimeraX or chimera? Thanks -- Prathvi Singh, Research Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur-208016

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