[HOWTO] Compile from source on windows

Hi guys I’ve had a few requests to write up a guide about compiling panda3d from source on windows, especially using vc2010. Here it is. Please let me know if you encounter any issues. A text version can be found here: pastebin.com/0TF02FTP.

How to compile panda3d on windows using vc2010.
These steps are known to work on windows 7.

  1. Install windows sdk 7.1 and vc 2010 c++ update
    a. Download windows sdk 7.1 here:
    microsoft.com/en-us/download … px?id=8279
    b. Download sp1 here:
    microsoft.com/en-us/download … px?id=4422
    c. If you have .NET 4.1+ you need to uninstall it since those version
    conflict with .NET 4.0 needed by the SDK. You can reinstall more
    recent version of .NET afterward.
    d. You also need to uninstall any vc2010 redistributables. See
    mathworks.com/matlabcentral/ … ows-system
    for more information.
    e. When selecting what to install for the SDK sure you install the c++ tools
    otherwise you will get a cryptic error about missing rc.exe.
    f. Even after installing sp1 you may still be missing ammintrin.h.
    If this is the case download a newer version of visual studio sdks
    (eg vs12) and copy ammintrin.h from
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\include to
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC\include
    g. Congratulations, you are now a windows developer!

  2. Download whichever panda source version you need, and extract it somewhere.
    a. eg: panda3d.org/download/panda3 … 8.1.tar.gz
    b. You’ll need 7zip for the gz files, you don’t need the complete source
    since you will be downloading rdb’s vc10 thirdparty files.

  3. Get rdb’s win-libs-vc10-x64
    a. Thread with downloads can be found here:
    [Migration to Visual C++ 2010, availability of x64 builds)
    b. extract to $PANDA_SOURCE_PATH/thirdpary

  4. If you want to use your own version of python (eg so you can have access
    to certain additional modules), copy your local install folder over to
    thridpary/win-python. NOTE: python3 currently (Aug 14) does not compile on windows.
    a. You may need to rename the python dll and move it to the top folder.
    b. Symlinks and shortcuts do not seem to work for this which is silly since makepanda just copies from source to built.

  5. Compiling
    a. You MUST compile in command prompt, powershell environment variables
    are incorrect for makepanda.bat.
    b. Run cmd.exe and cd to $PANDA_SOURCE_PATH
    c. Run the following command, without quotes:
    “makepanda\makepanda.bat --everything --installer”
    d. There are many additional compile options, to see them run:
    “makepanda\makepanda.bat”

  6. For everything else, check the manual:
    panda3d.org/manual/index.php/Main_Page

Thanks. Great tutorial. Do you know how to compile on linux?

Is this up to date? How about .NET 4.5.X? 4.7?

The most up-to-date compile instructions are in the README.md in the GitHub repository:
github.com/panda3d/panda3d