How to Rotate Project North in Revit?

Rotating Project North in Revit allows you to orient your building on the drawing sheet according to its desired presentation angle, independent of its true geographical orientation. This is a crucial step for documentation and planning within your Revit project.

Understanding Project North vs. True North

Before rotating, it's important to distinguish between the two north orientations in Revit:

• Project North: This represents the orientation of your building on the project sheets. It's typically aligned with the main axis of the building, making plans appear orthogonal (vertical and horizontal).
• True North: This represents the actual geographical north direction of the building site. It's used for site-specific information like sun studies and energy analysis.

You can change a view's orientation between Project North and True North using the 'Orientation' parameter in the Properties palette for that view.

Steps to Rotate Project North

The process for rotating Project North is straightforward and affects all views whose 'Orientation' parameter is set to 'Project North'.

1. Navigate to the Manage Tab: In your Revit ribbon, go to the Manage tab.

2. Locate Project Location: Find the Project Location panel.

3. Access Position Tools: Click on the Position dropdown menu.

4. Select Rotate Project North: From the options, choose Rotate Project North.

   You will be presented with several methods for performing the rotation:

   • Rotate about Project Base Point: Rotates the model around the Project Base Point.
   • Rotate about Survey Point: Rotates the model around the Survey Point.
   • Align selected element or pick line: This method is particularly useful and aligns a chosen element (like a wall or property line) vertically to define the new Project North.
     • Based on the reference provided, this is likely the option shown: you select this option, and then you select an element like a wall. The view rotates so that the selected wall becomes vertical, aligning it with the new Project North.
   • Specify angle for Project North: Allows you to enter a specific angle of rotation.

5. Choose Your Rotation Method: Select the method that best suits your needs.

6. Execute the Rotation:

   • If you chose 'Align selected element or pick line', click on the element (e.g., a wall) that you want to be aligned vertically with the new Project North.
   • If you chose a 'Rotate about' option, specify the angle or use the compass provided.
   • If you chose 'Specify angle', enter the desired angle.

Once completed, all views set to 'Project North' orientation will update to reflect the new orientation.

Impact of Rotating Project North

Rotating Project North primarily affects:

• The orientation of views set to 'Project North'.
• The behavior of drawing and modifying tools that align with the Project North orientation (e.g., placing walls, dimensions).
• The visual layout of your plans on sheets.

It's important to note that rotating Project North does not change the orientation relative to True North or the building's actual position on the site (which is controlled by rotating True North).

By mastering the rotation of Project North, you can ensure your project documentation is clear, professional, and aligns perfectly with presentation standards.