UCSF ChimeraX Advantages

ChimeraX provides several advantages relative to Chimera, and the list will continue to grow. A small sample is given below. See also: feature highlights, example images

• High-performance manipulation and rendering of large numbers of atoms


• Fast mmCIF reader and ability to write mmCIF


• Fast and robust solvent-excluded surfaces


• Interactive ambient-occlusion lighting modes


• Curved-cylinder “tube” helices integrated with cartoon style


• Virtual reality mode for systems supported by SteamVR (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Odyssey), as shown in PBS Newshour: Flu Vaccine and UCSF School of Pharmacy News


• Toolbar with icons to change display styles, lighting modes, or mouse-button assignments with a single click


• All-in-one window in which tool interfaces are panels that can be shown, hidden, and repositioned


• Tool panels may incorporate interactive 2D plots and diagrams, and HTML with links and images


• Built-in HTML browser with simple mechanism to execute ChimeraX commands by clicking links (handy for demonstrations)


• Toolshed web repository of ChimeraX plugins for easy installation and updates, supporting community development


• Modeller interface for the comparative modeling of homo- and hetero-multimeric complexes (in addition to single-chain modeling)


• Features for working with DICOM medical imaging data