Off-screen rendering with ParaView
 

Hello,

I have a headless (no video card and no screen) Ubuntu server. I am using this machine to run my OpenFoam simulations. Now I am trying to write a python script, which generates a video of the simulation and saves it. I know how to create a video of the simulation with ParaView GUI (File>Save Animation) which uses onscreen rendering. Since the machine I have has no screen, I need to create the video with offscreen rendering.

I setup Mesa and ParaView in the server by following the instructions in the link below:

http://paraview.org/Wiki/ParaView/ParaView_And_Mesa_3D

Is there an example code or a documentation for creating a python script for generating OpenFoam simulation videos by using offscreen rendering with ParaView?

Thank you for the help in advance.

Greetings Kilroy,

The closest thing I can remember related to this, is this thread: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/par...rendering.html

Beyond this, have you tried on your workstation to use ParaView's "Python Trace" feature to figure out what's necessary to save the animation? Because in theory, once you are using the off-screen option from the command line, then the script should be able to perform as it does on the workstation on-screen.

Best regards,
Bruno