VTX is an open-source molecular visualization software designed to overcome the scaling limitations of existing real-time molecular visualization software when handling massive molecular datasets. VTX employs a meshless molecular graphics engine utilizing impostor-based techniques and adaptive level-of-detail (LOD) rendering. This approach significantly reduces memory usage and enables real-time visualization and manipulation of large molecular systems. Performance benchmarks against VMD, PyMOL, and ChimeraX using a 114-million-bead Martini minimal whole-cell model demonstrate VTX's efficiency, maintaining consistent frame rates even under interactive manipulation on standard computer hardware. VTX incorporates features such as screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO) for enhanced depth perception and free-fly navigation for intuitive exploration of large molecular systems. VTX is open-source and free for non commercial use. Binaries for Windows and Ubuntu Linux are available at http://vtx.drugdesign.fr. VTX source code is available at https://github.com/VTX-Molecular-Visualization.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.07181,
title = {Interactive visualization of large molecular systems with VTX: example with a minimal whole-cell model},
author = {Maxime Maria and Valentin Guillaume and Simon Guionniere and Nicolas Dacquay and Cyprien Plateau Holleville and Vincent Larroque and Jean Larde and Yassine Naimi and Jean Philip Piquemal and Guillaume Levieux and Nathalie Lagarde and Stephane Merillou and Matthieu Montes},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.07181},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
See Free-fly navigation of Marrink23 cell model with VTX at: https://youtu.be/zMrAFuqxL3Y