Pycharm, opencv fails to load dll, works on prompt

Question

After installing miniconda with python 3.7 I do the following:

conda create --name opencv_test python=3.7
conda activate opencv_test
conda install -c anaconda opencv

Then to test the environement I do:

python
>>> import cv2
>>> exit()

Everything goes according to plan

Then if I launch PyCharm or vs code, set my new environment as the interpreter and create a simple file that contains only

import cv2

On launch I get:

ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

What I learned from the internets:

This, this and this, all those posts refer to a problem that seems similar, the difference being that the issue for me only happens when using IDEs

What I tried before posting here:

Recreating the environment multiple times switching channels.
As it seemed to be a path issue, I added the paths which contained opencv dll to the environment paths in PyCharm settings one at a time

What I just tried after spending a considerable amount of time creating this post:

conda update conda

This weirdly downgrades python to 3.6

conda create --name opencv_test_2 python=3.6
conda activate opencv_test_2
conda install -c anaconda opencv

This seems to fix all the issues but:

So in short, why when using python 3.7 and PyCharm I seem to be unable to import opencv even if it works on command line?

Thanks in advance.

Try to activate the env from terminal, then start your pycharm.exe in the same terminal. Or you can set python project environment (opencv_test/xxx/bin/python.exe )in you pycharm. — Kinght 金, Oct 02 '18 at 11:43
@knight, sorry for the delay. Thank you it's a workaround but launching the program from an activated environment seems to work (not activating it in the options). I still don't understand the issue and how it will affect if I send my code/environement to people — Treizh, Jun 26 '19 at 10:14

0 Answers0