Molecular structure visualization is an essential aspect of modern scientific research. By utilizing graphical tools and computer technologies to render the three-dimensional(3D) structures of molecules as images or animations, scientists, educators and students can intuitively explore and analyze molecular geometry and physicochemical properties. Traditional molecular visualization tools such as Diamond, Chimera, and PyMOL, while widely used in academia, often face limitations in rendering quality, animation expressiveness, and interactivity. Blender, as a versatile and powerful 3D modeling and rendering tool, offers high flexibility, extensibility, cross-platform and open-source accessibility. These qualities have made it increasingly popular for scientific visualizaiton in recent years.
ChemBlender is a Blender-based plugin for molecular structure visualizaiton that supports 3D modeling of organic molecules, crystal structures, and biomolecules. By combining Blender’s Python scripting with geometry nodes, the plugin allows users to customize models——such as adjusting atom sizes, materials, and molecular display modes——with ease. To make editing molecular structures smarter, ChemBlender preserves the original chemical and biological information of the molecules during model creation, enabling users to freely access this data for advanced custom operations.
Different presentations of Olympicene molecular structure
The alpha version of ChemBlender developed in 2023 (previously names “Mol3DStruct”) is released here. Click here to download the installation package and python ex-packages. Since the ChemBlender alpha version is developed based on Blender 4.0, it is recommended to use it with Blender 4.0. You can download the user manual here. The new version of ChemBlender is still under development. Stay tuned!
Also, You can click here to download any version of Blender.