[vtkusers] Python/VTK offscreen / headless rendering

[Robert.Atwood at diamond.ac.uk]

Hi, Paul
The difference is to get to the point where there is something rendered, without having to open a window on the terminal. 
In the case where I already know (or can calculate from the image data) the colour function and the transparency function, I know what camera angle I want and so on, I just want to run a background job on a remote workstation/cluster node to render that same view for a number of similar images (of the same object in different time steps) Instead of sitting on my computer watching it. 

But, the problem is that with the way I know how to do it, the creation of the render window trys to get a GL context, but it can't do that . 

If I try in python on a X-window connection even, I get the following 
ERROR: In /home/ilan/minonda/conda-bld/work/VTK-6.3.0/Rendering/OpenGL/vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow.cxx, line 394
vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow (0x7f47c0fda000): Could not find a decent visual


But maye the capability isn't compiled into the python package  from Anaconda?? 
Is there a python package  I can grab that has software rendering? 




I tried to buld the c++ from source of 7.1.1. But not successfully. ..

./CylinderRenderingProperties 
ERROR: In /dls/science/users/kny48981/sources/vtk/VTK-7.1.1/Rendering/OpenGL2/vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow.cxx, line 320
vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow (0xfc18a0): Could not find a decent config






> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Korir [mailto:pkorir at ebi.ac.uk]
> Sent: 27 April 2018 11:09
> To: Atwood, Robert (DLSLtd,RAL,SCI); 'vtkusers at vtk.org'
> Subject: Re: [vtkusers] Python/VTK offscreen / headless rendering
> 
> How different is what you need from writing the rendered output directly
> to a file using one of the vtk*Writer classes?
> 
> Correct me if I'm missing something.
> 
> Paul K. Korir, PhD
> Scientific Programmer
> EMBL-EBI
> 01223494422
> 
> On 23/04/2018 11:52, Robert.Atwood at diamond.ac.uk wrote:
> > Hi,
> > I would like to have a Python script to render several volume images
> (tomography data)  on a headless machine. I could not find any advice more
> recent than 2011 , is this something that just isn't configured in the Python as
> installed from existing packages? How do I tell?
> > If it's not in the python , what needs to be done, at the time of prior
> questions it seemed to be a compile-time option of the VTK library, is that
> still the case, Any exaples on line that are for the current release ?
> > Thanks
> > Robert
> >
> >
> >


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