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, missing features

• High-performance rendering of large structures and data


• Fast mmCIF reader and ability to write mmCIF


• Fast and robust solvent-excluded surfaces


• Interactive ambient-occlusion lighting


• Curved-cylinder “tube” helices integrated with cartoons


• Streamlined interface:
• Toolbar icons to change display styles, lighting, or button assignments with a single click
• All-in-one window in which tool interfaces are panels that can be shown, hidden, and repositioned
• Built-in HTML browser with click-to-execute-commands mechanism


• Easier-to-remember commands and greater availability of command equivalents for GUI actions


• Toolshed web repository of ChimeraX plugins for easy installation and updates


• ISOLDE plugin for building atomic models into low/medium-resolution density [ISOLDE website]


• AlphaFold and ESMFold AI-predicted protein structures (fetch existing or calculate new)


• Modeller interface for the comparative modeling of multimeric complexes


• Virtual reality mode, as shown in PBS Newshour: Flu Vaccine and UCSF School of Pharmacy News


• Features for working with DICOM medical imaging data