Diamond 4: Enhanced productivity
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Next: Extended functionality for molecules and polymers...
New mode with intuitive rotation, shift, zooming, and selecting
The new "Grab mode" offers you rotation or shifting of your structure picture by
grabbing an atom or changing the enlargement factor with the mouse wheel, while
you still have the choice to select objects. So you need not switch between the normal
selection mode and one of the different tracking modes (although those modes are
still available).
Neighbouring preview
Mouse wheel and button are now (at last) supported by Diamond. You can use the mouse wheel
button to activate a preview of the atoms and bonds (molecules, polyhedra, etc.) in
the neighbourhood of the atom(s) under the mouse cursor. Use the mouse wheel to
increase or decrease the preview search sphere. Use another click on the wheel button
to take the preview into the picture.
Improved evaluation of bonding spheres (connectivity)
The table of bond lengths and mean interatomic distances as well as the table of
effective radii has been improved to gain better pre-defined bonding spheres for
an imported structure. Besides this you can use the results of atom site enviroment
researches (e.g. Dirichlet domains, see below) as basis for the bonding spheres.
Define atomic environments individually to atom sites
You can define the atomic environments of every atom site individually, because
the method of bonding spheres may be too inexact and not consider different sites
of a certain atom group. The atom site environments can be derived from calculations
of their Dirichlet domains (Voronoi
polyhedra).
Enhanced automatic structure picture creation
By default, Diamond automatically creates a structure picture for a new (imported)
structure. This automatic creation has been enhanced relative to the one already available
in Diamond 3 and considers the chemistry of the structure and the individual
atomic environments in a better way (molecular vs. typical inorganic structure). You can switch
this automatic picture creation off or use individually tailored building schemes,
see below.
Individual editing of properties using the mouse wheel
Besides the neighbouring preview mentioned above, there are several new options to use the mouse wheel: Change the enlargement factor, zoom in/out, change
atom radii or thick bond tubes' radii, blow up polyhedra, i.e. increase or decrease coordination
number, etc.
Definition and application of design schemes
A common need is the usage of different designs for structure pictures for different
purposes, e.g. a screen presentation with dark background, a color printout with
white background, or a black-on-white sketch for a publication. For these purposes,
you can define and apply a design scheme each. So you need not change atom and bond
colors etc. in your structure pictures again and again.
Improved building schemes
The building schemes (in Diamond 3 called "Auto-Build") have been enhanced, especially
for the new packing and molecular cluster creation functions. A building scheme
can now also be run in an "Apply now" manner (make slight change and re-create picture
from scratch), so you can better experience your structure.
Quicker structure picture drawing and anti-aliasing
Structure picture drawing has been accelerated by adjusting the number of vertices
to create a big or small atom bowl etc. to the individual
situation. During rotation etc. of your structure, the vertex resolution can additionally
(and optionally) be switched down. On the other hand, anti-aliasing can be used
to reduce jagged lines.
Improved object selection
Having a structure picture with a lot of atoms and bonds as well as other objects such as labels, atom vectors
etc. it may become a difficult task to catch a certain object by clicking it in
the structure picture. Now Diamond offers a selection filter
that enables e.g. to click a vector under a bond. Besides the normal selection mode,
Diamond also offers additive and subtractive selection. So you need not hold the
Ctrl or Shift key down when you [un]select a lot of objects in the structure picture.
Go to Diamond 4 Features Overview...
Next: Extended functionality for molecules and polymers...
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