Hi ChimeraX team,
I would like to color the inside of alpha helices in a different color from the outside, which is a standard feature in PyMOL and the original Chimera program:
https://pymolwiki.org/Cartoon_highlight_color
https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/midas/ribinsidecolor.html
But my understanding is that this is not currently possible in ChimeraX. I found some old mailing list threads on the topic and this 5-year-old open feature request ticket with priority set to low:
https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/1719
Based on comments from the developers, it seems as if implementing this feature is not very straight-forward with the current ribbon rendering engine. Still, I hope you will elevate the priority and put it on the road-map
for future releases as it greatly improves visibility and 3D-feeling of large ribbon-style protein structures. It would add another important tool for users of your excellent software.
Best regards,
Daniel