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. Folders separate long-running projects by system, experiment, or paper. The listing also reports processing status: queued, processing, viewable, or failed.
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 do not always appear at the same moment the upload record becomes visible; some pipeline stages continue in the background.
Working in the 3D viewer
Once the trajectory is ready, the viewer becomes the main workspace for visual inspection.
- scrub or play through timesteps,
- orbit, pan, and zoom around the structure,
- inspect atoms in the particles table,
- view the simulation-cell wireframe,
- create scene artifacts through filters or color coding,
- and launch analysis plugins directly from the same context.
The viewer integrates raw trajectory data, derived overlays, and analysis-driven artifacts in the same scene.
Particles and per-atom data
The Particles tab provides 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.
Color coding and filters
Color coding maps a property to a gradient. Filters isolate or remove subsets of atoms based on property rules. Both create scene artifacts rather than modifying the original trajectory view, enabling comparison against the baseline.
Scene artifacts
Color mappings, particle filter results, and plugin-generated 3D exposures appear as artifacts in the scene. 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 provide example trajectories for exploring the viewer and surrounding workflow without uploading custom data.
Related modules
Trajectories connect directly to several nearby modules:
- Analysis & Jobs for plugin 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.