Trajectories
Upload, process, inspect, and share molecular dynamics trajectories in VOLT.
A trajectory is processed through a pipeline that extracts metadata, stores the underlying dumps, creates derived simulation-cell records, and prepares 3D assets for the viewer. Trajectories are the input for analyses, simulation cells, trajectory-linked notebooks, and public sharing.
Organizing the listing
The listing is folder-based, separating long-running projects by system, experiment, or paper. It also reports each trajectory's processing status.
Processing pipeline
When files are selected, VOLT creates trajectory records and runs background processing on team infrastructure. The pipeline includes extraction, metadata parsing, frame registration, dump compression, cloud upload into cluster storage, GLB preprocessing, and preview rasterization.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | The upload is registered and waiting for processing capacity |
| Processing | Metadata, frames, and derived records are being built |
| Rendering | 3D assets are being generated for the viewer |
| Completed | The trajectory is ready for inspection and analysis |
| Failed | Processing stopped because a step in the pipeline failed |
Previews and derived assets may appear after the upload record becomes visible, since some pipeline stages continue in the background.
Working in the canvas
Once the trajectory is ready, the Canvas is the main workspace for it. Opening a trajectory opens /canvas/<trajectoryId>, where you can:
- scrub or play through timesteps,
- orbit, pan, and zoom around the structure,
- inspect per-atom data,
- view the simulation-cell wireframe,
- slice, filter, and colour-code the structure,
- and build and run analysis pipelines in the same place.
The canvas integrates raw trajectory data, derived overlays, and analysis artifacts in one scene. Per-atom data also has a standalone view at /dashboard/trajectory/<trajectoryId>/atoms for reading frame-level properties as a table.
Per-atom data
The per-atom viewer is a frame-level table of atoms and their properties: atom ID, type, coordinates, and any additional per-atom properties extracted from the dump or generated by an analysis.
Slicing, expressions, and colour coding
These are pipeline stages rather than standalone viewer toggles. Colour coding maps a property to a gradient and previews locally; slice planes and expression selections narrow what the structure contains and are submitted with the run, so every later stage — and every result — reflects them. See Analysis & Jobs.
Scene artifacts
Plugin-generated 3D exposures appear as artifacts in the scene, selectable from the result tree. Artifacts can be toggled on and off and switched between to compare analytical views of the same timestep.
Public sharing and downloads
Trajectories can be downloaded as their original data or shared through a public viewer link. Public access is viewer-only and does not grant team-level write access.
Sample simulations
Sample simulations are example trajectories for exploring the viewer and surrounding workflow without uploading custom data.
Related modules
- Canvas for the 3D workspace and the pipeline editor,
- Analysis & Jobs for pipeline execution and progress tracking,
- Simulation Cells for derived box geometry,
- Scripting for trajectory-linked notebooks,
- and Volt AI for natural-language operations on trajectories and analyses.