# Asymptote generates different output whether running in interactive mode or from pdflatex

I would like to make 3d pictures and put them side-by-side. I can do that nicely creating a file example.asy:

settings.render=1;
import graph;
import graph3;
import contour3;

material reds =  material(diffusepen=0.7red,ambientpen=red,emissivepen=0.3*red,specularpen=0.95white,shininess=0.95);
material blues = material(diffusepen=0.7blue,ambientpen=blue,emissivepen=0.3*blue,specularpen=0.95white,shininess=0.95);

int numberlines=8;

defaultrender.merge=true;
defaultrender.tessellate=true;
defaultrender.compression=Low;

picture p1,p2;
size(p1,100);
size(p2,100);

real f(real x, real y, real z) {return y^2+x-2;}
real c(real x, real y, real z) {return 2*x+2*z -2;}

draw(p1,surface(contour3(f,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),reds);
draw(p1,surface(contour3(c,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),blues);
draw(p2,surface(contour3(f,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),reds);
draw(p2,surface(contour3(c,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),blues);

currentprojection=orthographic(camera=(9,10,4),up=Z,target=O,zoom=1);
currentprojection=orthographic(camera=(0,7,7),up=Z,target=O,zoom=1);


The result is the same 3d image from two different points of view:

However, if I try to reproduce that in a LaTeX document, I get two repeated copies of the second image (in this case the projection with camera at (0,7,7)):

This is the LaTeX code I'm using:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[inline]{asymptote}

\begin{asydef}
settings.outformat="png";
settings.render=1;
import graph;
import graph3;
import contour3;

material reds =  material(diffusepen=0.7red,ambientpen=red,emissivepen=0.3*red,specularpen=0.95white,shininess=0.95);
material blues = material(diffusepen=0.7blue,ambientpen=blue,emissivepen=0.3*blue,specularpen=0.95white,shininess=0.95);

int numberlines=8;

defaultrender.merge=true;
defaultrender.tessellate=true;
defaultrender.compression=Low;
\end{asydef}

\begin{document}
\begin{asy}
picture p1,p2;
size(p1,100);
size(p2,100);

real f(real x, real y, real z) {return y^2+x-2;}
real c(real x, real y, real z) {return 2*x+2*z -2;}

draw(p1,surface(contour3(f,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),reds);
draw(p1,surface(contour3(c,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),blues);
draw(p2,surface(contour3(f,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),reds);
draw(p2,surface(contour3(c,(-3,-3,-3),(3,3,3),numberlines)),blues);

currentprojection=orthographic(camera=(9,10,4),up=Z,target=O,zoom=1);
currentprojection=orthographic(camera=(0,7,7),up=Z,target=O,zoom=1);
\end{asy}
\end{document}


This is with asymptote 2.15.2.

How can I get, from LaTeX, the same output I got by running asy -V from the command line?

• Have you tried omitting the line settings.outformat="pdf" from your asydef environment? That's the only difference I see, and usually the asy file actually output by the asymptote package will automatically include an appropriate settings.outformat= statement. (Actually, it's not the only difference--you might also try omitting the inline option when you call the package.) Oct 29, 2013 at 19:50
• Thank you!!! settings.outformat makes no difference, but remving the inline option fixes the problem. I suppose, then, that this is a bug in asymptote (or more precisely, in its interface with LaTeX), right?
– Jay
Oct 29, 2013 at 23:46
• Almost certainly. If you want to delve deeper, you might look at the filename-number.asy file that is actually produced after running LaTeX with the inline option. Oct 30, 2013 at 0:03
• Well, not using inline seems to mess up the document somehow (3d images are included over the text, as if no space was reserved for them)... But I've found that if I use \usepackage[inline,attach]{asymptote} with \usepackage[dvips]{attachfile2}, and settings.embed=true in my asydef, it works!
– Jay
Oct 30, 2013 at 12:43