Installation

Using binary wheels

On Windows, compiled PyFlyCap2 binaries can be installed for python on either a 32 or 64 bit system. To install from pypi, just do:

pip install pyflycap2

For Ubuntu on 64-bit, or to install a specific release, locate the compiled wheel for the [latest release](https://github.com/matham/pyflycap2/releases), or a dev wheel by downloading the artifact from the last [Github action run](https://github.com/matham/pyflycap2/actions). Then install it using:

pip install pyflycap2_wheel_name.whl

Warning

On linux, the compiled wheel doesn’t contain any flycapture2 library binaries, so flycapture2 should be installed before using pyflycap2 by following the instructions on the point gray [website](https://www.flir.com/products/flycapture-sdk).

E.g. on ubuntu, you should download flycapture2, extract it and install with install_flycapture.sh. That will put the required .so files on the path.

On Windows, the following dlls are required, but are already included in the wheel. Only provide them if manually compiling pyflycap2:

FlyCap2CameraControl_v110.dll
FlyCapture2_v110.dll
FlyCapture2GUI_Managed_v110.dll
FlyCapture2Managed_v110.dll
FlyCapture2_C_v110.dll
FlyCapture2GUI_C_v110.dll
FlyCapture2GUI_v110.dll
libiomp5md.dll

For other OSs or to compile with master see below.

Compiling

Requirements

To compile pyflycap2 we need:

Python

A c compiler (e.g. visual studio, on windows).

FlyCapture2 SDK which includes the required headers, lib, and dll (.so) files. It can be downloaded only from the Point Gray website.

Compiling pyflycap2

This library provides Cython bindings to FlyCapture2 which can be called form Python. That means that we need to compile the Cython code and link with the FlyCapture2 dlls (.so). This guide describes how to use MinGW gcc as the compiler.

Preparing Windows

Locate FlyCapture2GUI_C.dll and the other dlls listed above. The dlls are typically under Point Grey ResearchFlyCapture2bin64 or just bin for a 32 bit installation. The Point Grey Research directory is typically under Program Files.
Now, in your environment set the environment variable PYFLYCAP2_LIB to the full path where those dll files are. Those dlls should also be added to the PATH by e.g. setting $PATH=$PATH:dll_path so that it’ll be found at runtime. When making or installing from a wheel with these dlls, they will automatically be included and added to the PATH at runtime.
Now, in your environment set the environment variable PYFLYCAP2_INCLUDE to the full path where the include files are (typically also under Point Grey ResearchFlyCapture2include). E.g. on cmd:
```
set PYFLYCAP2_INCLUDE="E:\Point Grey Research\FlyCapture2\include"
set PYFLYCAP2_LIB="E:\Point Grey Research\FlyCapture2\bin64"
```

Preparing Ubuntu

If flycapture2 was installed with install_flycapture.sh, just do:
```
export PYFLYCAP2_INCLUDE=/usr/include/flycapture
```

Compiling

Now we’re ready to compile. CD to the pyflycap2 directory and run pip install -e . to compile it and make it available to python.
Finally, assuming pyflycap2 is properly installed, you should be to import pyflycap2, as long as the dlls (.so) are still on the PATH. Once compiled, only the dlls (.so) are required.
On linux, the file /usr/bin/FlyCapture2GUI_GTK.glade needs to be copied to the current directory if any of the GUI functions are used, otherwise an error will be raised and the GUI will not launch.