Pycinema Filters

A pycinema filter is a functional unit that takes a set of inputs, performs some operation, and passes data through a set of outputs. The module has been designed so that new filters require minimal code. The user simply defines the inputs and outputs and writes an _update method for a new filter class, and the framework automatically generates the UI for the filter graph, includes the filter in the applications, and makes the filter available to save operations.

Creating a New Filter

After you have pulled the git repository (), creating a new filter in pycinema and making it available in Cinema:Theater involves two steps.

create a new, uniquely named file in the pycinema/filters directory and edit it to create your filter operation.
include the new filter in the application by adding an import statement to the pycinema/filters/__init__.py file
re-building and installing the pycinema module (typically with pip install .)

The new file must include this minimal class definition code, which defines the inputs and outputs through a simple python dictionary, and defines an _update method that is called by the framework. An example for a file called MyNewFilter.py would look something like this:

from pycinema import Filter

class MyNewFilter(Filter):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(
            inputs={
                'someAttribute': 'value',
                'images': []
            },
            outputs={
                'images': []
            }
        )

    def _update(self):
        results = []

        print(self.inputs.someAttribute.get())
        for image in self.inputs.images.get():
            # some operation on each image
            # do something here

            # copy data to output (for example)
            outImage = image.copy()
            outImage.channels['rgba'] = # some data here
            results.append(outImage)

        self.outputs.images.set(results)

        return 1;