Leap Motion controller python module in Houdini not running

[anamhasan]

I initially had an issue installing the leap motion control module inside Houdini a 3D software package. But after some tests I managed to solve a couple of the error messages. see link https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/47638/?page=1#post-214276

I was recently told by the Houdini technical support that:

'Houdini's Python is built with Visual Studio 2015 and so it probably can't import/run the LeapPython.pyd module. Your only option is to use a LeapPython.pyd module that is built with Visual Studio 2015. Hopefully Leap Motion has a way to build the module from source.'

I don't know how to build a module from source.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Joe_Ward]

This article describes how to create the Python wrapper for Python 3, but you could use the same general procedure to build the wrapper for Python 2.7 using Visual Studio 2015.

[anamhasan]

why is the directory invalid if swig.exe is in the swigwin folder?

[Joe_Ward]

Because swig.exe is not a directory.

[anamhasan]

i don't understand how do i run SWIG from that folder i just created, am i wrong to run it from command prompt? sorry never done this before

[Joe_Ward]

It looks like you ran it correctly the first time, you just need to specify the input file (presumably Leap.i in this case).

[anamhasan]

found it , forget the above message

[anamhasan]

okay i'm not sure it produced the dll file.

here are some images showing my steps:

[Joe_Ward]

It looks like you are trying to create an application (.exe) rather than a dynamic link library (.dll). Did you follow all the steps in the link above?

[anamhasan]

my project at first was a blank app universal c++ project i've now made a new c++ empty project

[anamhasan]

i'm not generating a LeapPython.cpp when i type Leap.i into the cmd prompt it just opens the Leap.i file in visual studio

[anamhasan]

[Joe_Ward]

Try:

swig Leap.i

(on one line)

[anamhasan]

error

[Joe_Ward]

Those files are standard parts of swig. Did you move swig.exe to make it easier to run? If so, it can't find its own files anymore.

As it says in the article linked above, the full command line is:

c:\leap_python33>"C:\Program Files (x86)\swigwin-2.0.9\swig.exe" -c++ -python -o LeapPython.cpp -interface LeapPython Leap.i

-- all on one line -- where "c:\leap_python33>"C:\Program Files (x86)\swigwin-2.0.9" should be replaced by the absolute path to swig.exe on your system (in its original, installed, location).

[anamhasan]

still an error

[anamhasan]

urgh i got it working cpp file finally

[anamhasan]

so the c++ directory isn't there :s

[Joe_Ward]

Sorry, I don't really know all the ins-and-outs of setting up a Visual Studio 2015 project. (Microsoft might have some docs for that.) In general, it is a matter of identifying any source directories, include directories, library directories, and library files that your project uses in the project properties, but the details vary with VS version, etc.

[anamhasan]

so i got some help from the Visual Studio guys and managed to generate a DLL file in the x64 folder of my project folder.
However when i put the renamed dll to pyd into the relevant directory in Houdini for it to find the module. I get the following error for this code:

import Leap, sys, thread, time , math

from Leap import SwipeGesture

class LeapMotionListener(Leap.Listener):
def on_connect(self,controller):
print 'motion sensor connected anam'

def main():
listener = LeapMotionListener()
controller = Leap.Controller()

    controller.add_listener(listener)
    print 'press enter to quit'
    try:
            sys.stdin.readline()
            
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
            pass
    finally:
            controller.remove_listener(listener)

if name == 'main':
main()

error message:
Error: Python error: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
File "C:/Users/anam/Documents/houdini15.0/python2.7libs\Leap.py", line 17, in
LeapPython = swig_import_helper()
File "C:/Users/anam/Documents/houdini15.0/python2.7libs\Leap.py", line 16, in swig_import_helper
return importlib.import_module('LeapPython')
File "C:\PROGRA~1\SIDEEF~1\HOUDIN~1.459\python27\lib\importlib_init__.py", line 37, in importmodule
import(name)
ImportError: dynamic module does not define init function (initLeapPython)