Project North

[dkoch]

[Using Revit Architecture 2012; planning to move to Revit 2014 shortly.]

I did a search and read as many of the previous threads on Project North/True North as I could stand. I understand the concept of rotating True North to the desired angle, and that a plan view can be oriented to either Project North or True North. I also understand that if the project is initially drawn incorrectly, the Rotate Project North tool [Manage > Project Location > Position > Rotate Project North] can be used to rotate the entire project (or most of it) to re-orient the model to the correct Project North.

What I would like to confirm is whether the direction that Revit considers Project North can be changed. I understand that the initial default and standard drafting convention puts Project North to the top of the screen/top of the sheet. And, all other things being equal, that is my preferred orientation. But there have been many projects that I have worked on or seen over the years where Project North is not oriented to the top of the sheet. The drawing area on a typical sheet is longer side to side than top to bottom, and in order to get the entire floor plan on one drawing, Project North is sometimes oriented to the right. I have seen projects where Project North has been down or to the left, to match existing documentation, because someone wanted the main entrance at the bottom side of the sheet or for some other reason.

From what I have read, "Project North" in Revit is always going to be "up" or to the top of the sheet. But I am thinking that so long as True North is set properly (for energy modeling, shadow studies, etc.), I can call my project north to the right and draw a project north arrow pointing to the right and it will not have any deleterious effects on anything in the Revit model. If the template file contains elevation views that refer to North/South/East/West, I can rename those to coordinate with project north being to the right, and all will be well. Is that correct, or is there something in Revit about which I am unaware that will cause confusion in the future if I call project north to the right, rather than up?

[cdatechguy]

Not always....I have had Project North be to the right of the sheet....then it changed to top....then it changed back to the right. And then on another building (same project) Project North was to the left of the sheet...

[Steve_Stafford]

I think what you are saying is essentially true. Project North is whatever orientation you choose to use to "draw" the building on "paper". Essentially project north is meant to let us orient the design "on paper" easily... if a long narrow rectangular shape then perhaps horizontally, if a wide rectangular shape then perhaps vertically. Revit doesn't provide the ability for a north arrow to point in any given direction based on these settings so it is up to us to define what "north" is. True North generally is defined by rotating by whatever angle value places the model pointing "up" but it technically could be at any angle too. It is really just documenting the difference between "this and that"... whatever they might be.

[dkoch]

Thanks for the confirmation.

[dkoch]

I found two places where Revit "assumes" Project North is "up" - in the Options Bar, when using the Rotate True North tool, the Angle from Project North to True North as well as when the Project Base Point is selected, the Angle to True North value. In both of these cases, the angle given assumes that "north" for the Project North orientation is "up" on the screen. You are still free to call any other direction "north" for Project North, so long as you keep in mind that the values reported in these locations will be taken from Project North "up". Not a big deal, as once this is set, you are not likely to see these values.
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[Steve_Stafford]

I'd assume "north" is up for either true or project north ordinarily too... :)