Getting OpenCV to work with python after compiling from source
The solution ended up being both simpler and sloppier than I would have liked.  I just installed the regular distribution using pip install opencv-contrib-python, then went into the cv2 folder in Lib/site-packages, replaced the python extension (cv2.cp36-win32.pyd in my case.  may be different for others) with the .pyd file from my CMake build (build/lib/python3/Release) and copied everything from build/bin/Release into the Lib/site-packages/cv2 folder.  It doesn't look pretty or organized but python can find everything now.  If anyone has a cleaner way to do this I'd love to hear it.
I am having an issue getting OpenCV to work with python.  I compiled from source using CMake in order to gain access to the SIFT module.  Whenever I try to use openCV however, python returns the "No module named 'cv2'" error.  It works fine when I install using pip but then I have no SIFT.  My build directory is set as an environment variable and my bin directory is in my system path.  There were no build issues and the applications that came with the build run fine.  Is there another step that I have to perform, such as installing from the compiled project using pip?  How do I get my openCV library, compiled from source, to be importable by python?