Maestro User Manual

Chapter 7: Changing the Appearance of Structures

Maestro 10.2 User Manual

145

To apply the chosen style and color scheme, you can use the picking tools in the 

Apply ribbons

to atoms

 section. You can apply the current scheme to all existing ribbons by clicking 

Update

All Ribbons

. 

You can apply the color schemes and the display options using the 

Ribbons

 toolbar button. 

If you want to change the quality of the ribbons, the blending of ribbon colors, or the width or

thickness of the ribbons, strands, tubes, or ladders, click 

Preferences

. The Preferences panel

opens at the Molecular Representation – 

Ribbons

 section. You can also control which of the

atoms that are associated with the ribbons are displayed when ribbons are created. See

Section 14.14.2 on page 380

 for more information.

You can change the atom visibility with the usual display tools. In addition to these, the 

Show,

hide or color ribbons

 button menu offers a number of options for the display of ribbons and the

associated atoms:

•

Show Ribbons for All Residues

 

•

Show Ribbons for Selected Residues

 

•

Show Ribbons for Displayed Residues

 

•

Select Atoms to Display Ribbons

 

•

Display Atoms

 

•

Undisplay Atoms

 

•

Display Side Chains Only

 

•

Delete Ribbons

 

The first three items create the ribbons for the particular choice of residues, while the fourth

item opens the 

Atom Selection

 dialog box so you can choose residues for the ribbons. The next

three items display or undisplay atoms associated with the ribbons.

7.4

Changing Lighting, Materials, and Special Effects

The lighting effects and the materials that objects in the Workspace appear to be made of can

be changed in the 

Appearance

 panel, which you open by choosing 

Workspace 

→

 Appearance

.

Special effects can also be added to enhance the appearance of objects in the Workspace. 

The 

Lighting

 tab of the 

Appearance

 panel contains controls for the lighting effects on objects in

the Workspace. There are two available light sources, 

light1

 and 

light2

, which you can control

independently. Maestro normally only uses one light source. To edit the parameters for one of

the light sources, select it in the list, and then select 

Use light

 if it is not selected. The controls

then become available.

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Chapter 7: Changing the Appearance of Structures

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Figure 7.7. The Lighting tab in the Appearance panel.

The 

Light direction

 control allows you to pick the direction of the selected light, and also

displays the parameters that you set. To change the direction, click the desired location on the

red ball, or drag the yellow spot to the desired location. 

You can change three parameters of the lighting of objects in the Workspace. Each parameter

has a slider and a text box. 

•

Ambient

—Set the intensity of the ambient (nondirectional) light. This value affects the

shade of the object on the side away from the light source. A value of 100 means that

there are no shadows. 

•

Diffuse

—Set the intensity of diffuse (nondirectional) reflection from the object. and text

box. A value of zero means that there is no (or minimal) reflection from the object, and so

it appears to be dark. 

•

Specular

—Set the intensity of the specular reflection (“highlight”) of the object. The

highlight is essentially the image of the light source, diffused somewhat by the material

of the object. To change the character of the specular reflection, use the controls in the

Materials

 tab. 

You can restore the default values for a light source by clicking 

Restore Defaults

.

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Chapter 7: Changing the Appearance of Structures

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The 

Materials

 tab contains controls for the definition of the appearance of the objects in the

Workspace. You can set the appearance characteristics of different object types: atoms and

bonds, ribbons, surfaces, hypotheses, Phase QSAR objects. To make settings for one of these

object types, first choose the type from the 

Object type

 option menu, then make the settings. 

Figure 7.8. The Materials tab in the Appearance panel.

There are four preset material types, given in the 

Preset

 section: 

Metallic

, 

Plastic

, 

Rubber

,

Wood

. These material types correspond to particular settings of the five parameters in the

Custom

 section. 

The 

Custom

 section allows you to set the five properties of the material:

•

Ambient

—Intensity of the ambient (nondirectional) lighting

•

Diffuse

—Intensity of diffuse (nondirectional) reflection

•

Specular

—Intensity of specular reflection (the “highlight”)

•

Emission

—Intensity of nondirectional light emission from the object

•

Shininess

—Size and brightness of the highlight (specular reflection). Larger values pro-

duce a smaller and brighter highlight.

Each property has a slider and a text box. You can use either of these controls to set the prop-

erty value. Setting all five parameters has a performance cost, because there is a balance

between them. The 

Minimize performance cost

 option disables the 

Ambient

 and 

Diffuse

controls, and uses these properties to track color. This option is only present for OpenGL level

1.2, as the performance cost for 2.1 is negligible.

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