I am trying to install pydicom into the python27 folder of houdini 16.0.504. Its a pure python lib without C dependencies. It worked with Houdini 13 without any problems but with H16 I always get the following error message during setup.py :
error: byte-compiling is disabled.
I also couldnt install pip with the same error message. Again pure python and it worked with H13.
Any hints ?

I hacked it somehow by creating a virtualenv, installing pydicom there and then copying the dicom folders to h16/python27/lib/site-packages of the houdini installation. now it works without problems.
Is there a way to create a python virtualenv which is usable from within houdini ?