VMD - Visual Molecular Dynamics

VMD is a molecular visualization program for displaying, animating, and analyzing large biomolecular systems using 3-D graphics and built-in scripting. VMD supports computers running MacOS X, Unix, or Windows, is distributed free of charge, and includes source code.
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Spotlight

VMD can be used with 3-D printers to create solid models of molecular structures such as the LH-II heterodimer unit shown at right. The most recent version of VMD supports the newest color-capable 3-D printers, and can generate STL or VRML files suitable for 3-D printing. Two identical LH-II heterodimer units were printed in 6.4 hours on a Z-Corp Z400 3-D printer at an approximate cost of $1 to $2 per cubic inch. Each of the two solid models consumed 12.4 cubic inches of the ZP102 powder.
Other Spotlights

Overview

Molecular representations
VMD plugin library
Molecular file formats
GPU-accelerated computing
Interactive molecular dynamics
Programs that use VMD
VMD research publications
How to cite VMD
VMD citation list (24,000 as of Apr'18)

Download

Download (all versions)
VMD 1.9.3 (MacOS X, Unix, Windows)
VMD 1.9.2 (MacOS X, Unix, Windows)
VMD 1.9.1 (MacOS X, Unix, Windows)
VMD script library
License, Copyright and Disclaimer

Documentation and Support

User and installation guides
VMD-L mailing list
Publication image tutorial (YouTube)
Quick help
FAQ
Bug List

News and Announcements

19,200 human protein structures visualized with VMD, Kresten Lindorff-Larsen
NanoShaper-VMD interface: computing and visualizing surfaces, pockets and channels in molecular systems, Bioinformatics, 2018
Best Practices in Running Collaborative GPU Hackathons, CiSE, 2018
NAMD goes quantum: an integrative suite for hybrid simulations, Nature Methods, 2018
J. Physical Chemistry B, Klaus Schulten Memorial Issue, 2017
Challenges of Integrating Stochastic Dynamics and Cryo-electron Tomograms in Whole-cell Simulations, JPCB 2017
Early Experiences Porting the NAMD and VMD Molecular Simulation and Analysis Software to GPU-Accelerated OpenPOWER Platforms, LNCS 2016
Immersive Molecular Visualization with Omnidirectional Stereoscopic Ray Tracing and Remote Rendering, HPDAV 2016
High Performance Molecular Visualization: In-Situ and Parallel Rendering with EGL, HPDAV 2016
Evaluation of Emerging Energy-Efficient Heterogeneous Computing Platforms for Biomolecular and Cellular Simulation Workloads, HCW 2016
Atomic Detail Visualization of Photosynthetic Membranes with GPU-Accelerated Ray Tracing, J. Par. Comp. 2016
TopoGromacs: Automated Topology Conversion from CHARMM to GROMACS within VMD, JCIM 2016
Past announcements

Gallery

Chromatophore VR demo (VMD + Unreal Game Engine) shown in NVIDIA booth at SC'16
Example VMD VR/3-D YouTube videos
Chemical Visualization of Human Pathogens: the Retroviral Capsids, Finalist, SC'15 Viz. Showcase
Visualization of Energy Conversion Processes in a Light Harvesting Organelle at Atomic Detail, 1st Place Winner, SC'14 Viz. Showcase
VMD movie gallery on YouTube
Gallery of Posters, Images, and Movies made with VMD
VMD running in the NanoDome at Temple University

Development

VMD User Survey Results
VMD development status and pre-release test downloads
CVS source code access
VMD Programmer's documentation