Dear all,
Re: Henry's last e-mail about 3DMoleculardesign.com
Similar images to those can be generated directly from pdb format using free software:
MOLPOV (turns PDB files into POV files) http://www.chem.ufl.edu/~der/der_pov2.htm and POVRay (a ray tracing program www.povray.org ) which reads the POV file above and renders it as an image.
I think I was too cryptic in my posting. I meant physical 3D models ("3d printing") which can be placed on a coffee table top for guests to admire! I dont know what the medium is; it might be some sort of polymer, but it looks quite fragile (ie to be passed around an audience only very carefully). Some time ago, I also came across a company that users lasers to etch a 3D images inside a cube of glass (but only in one colour, white!) but as far as I know they did not accept PDB files as coordinates. Anyone know of any other such toys? I would love, for example, to be able to send them wavefunctions, and have molecular orbitals as 3D physical models to pass around! -- Henry Rzepa. Imperial College, Chemistry Dept. +44 0778 626 8220 +44 020 7594 5804 (Fax)