Modelling MACRmolecular complexes isn't so much similar to molecular
modelling.
Instead of a few sorts of building blocks with relatively rigid constraints
on their mutual arrangement, one would operate with bricks-and-pipes
pretending to be protein/DNA - relatively diversified shapes which can be
aligned to one another in all possible fashions.
I'm currently out to model nucleosomal arrays by wrapping pipe-like nucleic
acid on barrel-like proteinous bodies.
Sounds simple? You try it.
I got hold of Ray Dream Designer for Mac - the vendor charachterized it
basically to most mainstream tool for 3D drawing. I drew a few
*macromolecules* before giving it up:
It has very poor alingment tools - e.g. to stick one DNA (pipe) segment on
the end of another one is a pain;
It can draw relatively complex shapes like e.g. helix - but with
superhelices, it's at loss
and the most horrible thing goes last as usually:
An extremely fancy and extremely slow rendering procedure gives you a PICT
file with reflections and shades and such which I actually don't need at
all. A PostScript picture showing actual boundaries of the objects'
projections as well as the layers order (which object obsures which) - it's
the most I need. To make a powerful machine run for couple hours just to see
where a corrections should be made in a picture? I better shoot myself :(
Thanx for any suggestions,
D
