What causes "The output location '{self.location}' is not a folder" in deepfakes/faceswap?

Point the output location at a folder (create it first if needed: mkdir -p).

deepfakes/faceswap · error · FaceswapError

The output location '{self.location}' is not a folder

Error message

The output location '{self.location}' is not a folder

What it means

ImagesSaver's second guard: the output location exists (superclass check passed) but is not a directory. Saving to a path that is a regular file, or a dangling symlink, raises this FaceswapError.

Source

Thrown at lib/image.py:1304

    def __init__(self, path, queue_size=8, as_bytes=False):
        logger.debug(parse_class_init(locals()))
        super().__init__(path, queue_size=queue_size)
        self._as_bytes = as_bytes

    def _check_location_exists(self):
        """ Check whether the output location exists and is a folder

        Raises
        ------
        FaceswapError
            If the given location does not exist or the location is not a folder
        """
        if not isinstance(self.location, str):
            raise FaceswapError("The output location must be a string not a "
                                f"{type(self.location)}")
        super()._check_location_exists()
        if not os.path.isdir(self.location):
            raise FaceswapError(f"The output location '{self.location}' is not a folder")

    def _process(self, queue):
        """ Saves images from the save queue to the given :attr:`location` inside a thread.

        Parameters
        ----------
        queue: queue.Queue()
            The ImageIO Queue
        """
        executor = futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(thread_name_prefix=self.__class__.__name__)
        assert self._error_state is not None
        while True:
            if self._error_state.has_error:
                logger.debug("[%s] Thread error detected in worker thread", self._name)
                executor.shutdown(cancel_futures=True)
                return
            item = queue.get()
            if item == "EOF":

View on GitHub (pinned to f530cb7508)

Solutions

Point the output location at a folder (create it first if needed: mkdir -p).
If the path is an unwanted leftover file, delete or rename it.
Fix dangling symlinks to point at the real directory.

Example fix

import os

# before
saver = ImagesSaver('/out/faces.mp4')  # exists but is a file

# after
os.makedirs('/out/faces', exist_ok=True)
saver = ImagesSaver('/out/faces')

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import os

os.makedirs(output_location, exist_ok=True)
assert os.path.isdir(output_location), 'output location is not a folder'

Try / catch

try:
    saver = ImagesSaver(out_path)
except FaceswapError as err:
    if 'not a folder' in str(err):
        out_path = out_path + '_dir'
        os.makedirs(out_path, exist_ok=True)
        saver = ImagesSaver(out_path)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

mkdir -p the output folder in launcher scripts.
Use distinct arguments for output folder vs output filename.
Never point -o at an existing file path.

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an output path that points at an existing file (e.g. an output video filename instead of a folder), or a symlink whose target was removed.

Common situations: Confusing the -o output folder argument with an output filename in extract jobs; reusing a file path as output dir; leftover symlink from a moved drive.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of deepfakes/faceswap@f530cb7508 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5fca6d422eee4e38. Report an issue: GitHub.