Building from Source

This page provides detailed instructions for building the Resolume Composition Converter from source code on different platforms.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or newer
• pip (Python package installer)
• Git (for cloning the repository)

Repository Structure

The repository has the following structure:

• / - Core application files
• /build/mac/ - Mac-specific build files
• /build/windows/ - Windows-specific build files
• /dist/mac/ - Output directory for Mac builds
• /dist/windows/ - Output directory for Windows builds
• /screenshots/ - Application screenshots
• /icons/ - Application icons
• /documentation/ - Generated documentation

Building for macOS

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/tijnisfijn/Resolume-Composition-Converter.git
   cd Resolume-Composition-Converter
   

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

4. Build the application:

   python build/mac/build_mac.py
   

5. Find the built application: The application will be in the dist/mac/ directory.

Building for Windows

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/tijnisfijn/Resolume-Composition-Converter.git
   cd Resolume-Composition-Converter
   

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   venv\Scripts\activate
   

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   pip install Pillow
   

4. Build the application:

   python build/windows/build_windows.py
   

5. Find the built application: The application will be in the dist/windows/ directory.

Troubleshooting Windows Build

Common Issues

1. "Spec file not found" error:

   • Make sure you're in the root directory of the repository
   • Verify that the file build/windows/resolume_converter_windows.spec exists

2. "No module named 'PIL'" error:

   • Make sure you've installed Pillow: pip install Pillow

3. "No module named 'PyInstaller'" error:

   • Make sure you've installed the requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Icon creation fails:

   • Verify that the icons/app_icon.png file exists
   • Make sure Pillow is installed: pip install Pillow

Checking File Structure

If you're having issues, verify that your directory structure looks like this:

Resolume-Composition-Converter/
├── build/
│   ├── mac/
│   │   ├── build_mac.py
│   │   └── resolume_converter.spec
│   └── windows/
│       ├── build_windows.py
│       ├── create_windows_icon.py
│       ├── PC_BUILD_INSTRUCTIONS.md
│       └── resolume_converter_windows.spec
├── dist/
│   ├── mac/
│   └── windows/
├── screenshots/
├── resolume_gui.py
├── runtime_hook.py
├── convert_manual_simple.py
├── create_distribution.py
├── requirements.txt
└── other files...

What the Build Scripts Do

Mac Build Script (build/mac/build_mac.py)

The build script will:

1. Install the required dependencies
2. Build the application using PyInstaller with the correct spec file
3. Create HTML documentation
4. Create a distribution package
5. Move the built application to the dist/mac directory

Windows Build Script (build/windows/build_windows.py)

The build script will:

1. Install the required dependencies
2. Install Pillow for icon creation
3. Create a Windows icon (.ico) file from the PNG icon
4. Build the application using PyInstaller with the correct spec file
5. Create HTML documentation
6. Create a distribution package
7. Move the built application to the dist/windows directory

Creating a Source Package

If you want to create a source package for distribution:

python create_source_package.py

This will create a ZIP file containing all the necessary files to build the application on any platform.