VMD-L Mailing List

From: Luc Boisvert (lboisvert_at_pugetsound.edu)
Date: Wed Apr 17 2019 - 17:41:52 CDT

Hi all,

Is there a way that a surface (for example, orbital or density map) can be obtained with some transparency and/or multiple colors when rendering as 3D Wavefront OBJ?

I've been writing tutorials on how to create 3D molecules that can be manipulated in PowerPoint, taking advantage of PowerPoint's recent ability to use 3D objects (see here for a quick example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8gixfxJlcY).

Whatever I try, when a surface is made to be transparent in VMD (under Graphics, Graphical Representations and choosing a transparent Material), it renders as opaque when rendered as OBJ. I then have to take the obj file into something like Blender to change the transparency of the mesh. Also, it seems like surfaces with multiple colors (such as electrostatic potential maps) render as one color only as OBJ. Is there a way to render as OBJ and keeping the different colors on the surface?

Thank you in advance for any help.

Luc