TUTORIAL B6 - SECTION 1
Using Sirius with AMBER
By Sasha Buzko
1) Sirius installation and initial setup
Sirius is distributed in native installers for each supported platform, which make installation very easy. It can be downloaded from Sirius website after completing a short contact information form. Once the appropriate installer is downloaded (exe file for Windows, dmg file for MacOS X or shell executable for Linux), you should execute it and follow the graphical installation screens that follow and can be used to specify install location, file associations, etc. Note for Linux users: do not specify the same directory for install and for symbolic links.
During the installation on Windows and Linux, a bundled copy of POV-Ray ray tracer is also installed to produce high-quality graphics outputs. On Windows, you will be asked to confirm the install, while on Linux no action will be required, and install will proceed automatically (POV-Ray is installed in the Sirius directory).
Once installed, Sirius can be launched using its desktop icon. On Windows, it also can be started by double-clicking any of the associated file types, for example a PDB file. With the application running, you might want to check the Preferences dialog located under Viewers menu. It allows for changes of the default working directory, selection color, background color, element coloring scheme, rendering quality, etc.
If you intend to work with large amounts of data, you should increase amount of memory available to Sirius. In order to do it, enter the desired amount of RAM (in MBytes) in the corresponding field under Other tab of the Preferences dialog. The change will take effect after the application is restarted. You may also switch between the default Sirius look and feel and the system-specific application appearance in the same tab of the Preferences.
Once you are done configuring your working environment, we can proceed to loading sample data.
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