Chimera 2 cellPACK Features

Existing cellPACK user interface is through Cinema4d, Maya, Blender, or uPy. Installation is difficult and most front-ends are expensive commercial products. Has dialogs for simple and advanced users. Very big button farm dialogs.

Russell (student intern?) has been working on a web browser front-end for viewing and creating cellPACK models.

​cellPACK web site.

Viewing cellPACK models

• Open cellPACK models, fetching JSON files from web.
• Open collada surface files used to represent cellPACK molecules.
• Hierarchical collapsible list of model components, checkbuttons for display
• Clipping that hides whole molecules (instead of cutting them).
• Animate layout of model from regular grids of component molecules.

Creating cellPACK models

• Simple interface to run cellPACK, place molecules on a surface or within a surface.
• Export low resolution surfaces (hundreds of triangles) for pdb models.
• Export multi-sphere bounds file for molecular components.
• Specify axis for molecules embedded in surface (e.g. virus spike).

Measuring properties of models

• Measure statistical distribution of distances between molecules (vague).