The struts command adds pseudobonds to a molecular structure to strengthen it for 3D printing. Pairs of atoms within the maximum strut length of each other are considered in order of increasing distance. A strut is added if the shortest through-bond distance between the two atoms, including any existing struts, is greater than the maximum “loop” length. By default, ribbons are also thickened to make them more robust. The ~struts command removes struts connected to the specified atoms, or all struts if no atoms are specified. See also: export, meshmol, set subdivision, the Chimera 3D Model Gallery, Eduardo's Guide for 3D Printing Proteins
Protein example:
struts @ca length 7 loop 30 color blueExample for tRNA (see the gallery for a picture):
struts @p length 15 loop 80 rad 1.5
Keyword options, including those given above, can be used in any order and the keywords can be truncated. A vertical bar “|” designates mutually exclusive options, and default values are indicated with bold. Synonyms for true: True, 1. Synonyms for false: False, 0.
length maxlen
In effect, maxlen is the maximum length of a strut (default 7.0 Å). Pairs of atoms in atom-spec within maxlen of each other are considered in order of increasing distance. A strut is added if the shortest through-bond distance between the two atoms, including any existing struts, is greater than that specified with the loop option.
loop maxlooplen
A strut is added between a candidate pair of atoms when the shortest through-bond path between them, including any existing struts, is longer than maxlooplen (default 30.0 Å).
fattenRibbon true | false
Whether to apply a fat scaling to any displayed ribbon. Ribbon width and height can be fine-tuned with the Ribbon Style Editor.
radius strut-radius
The struts will be shown as sticks of radius strut-radius (default 0.75 Å).
color strut-color
The strut-color can be any color name that specifies a single color (default 0.7,0.7,0.7,1, a medium gray), except that names with spaces should be enclosed in quote marks or their spaces stripped.
name name
Name to use for the strut pseudobond group and listing in the Model Panel.
modelId N
Add the strut pseudobonds as model number N (an integer, optionally preceded by #). The default is the lowest unused number.
replace true | false
Whether to replace struts previously calculated for the same set of atoms rather than creating an additional entry in the Model Panel. Regardless of this setting, struts previously determined for a different set of atoms will not be replaced.