MesoCraft – 3D Modeling Software for Creating Mesoscale Atomistic Models

Abstract

MesoCraft is a new 3D modeling tool implementing visual programming approach. It provides the user with the capabilities of loading, rendering and manipulating several modalities (protein data, volumetric data, meshes) and overlaying them inside one rendering view. The modeling algorithm is based on statistical and rule based modeling approaches that are rapid to author, fast to construct, and easy to revise. Biological information can be incorporated by interactively defining the rules that spatially characterize the biological entity, such as mutual interactions among macromolecules, and their distances and orientations relative to other structures. These rules are defined through an intuitive 3D interactive visualization as a visual programming feedback loop.