Revit also gives you the ability to set the orientation of each view to plan north or to true north. For example the project I am currently working on is 30 degrees off of true north. In some of the views (overall site plans, etc.) we have set the orientation to true north to show how the building will be oriented on the site.
Most of the rest of our views are set to plan north which means that the top of the screen is set to North and the left to west, etc.
To set the orientation of a view, open the view and go to the "view" menu and select "view properties", open the view and type "vp" on the keyboard, or open the view and right click inside the view and select "properties" from the drop down menu. Once in the view properties dialogue box, select the appropriate orientation - plan north or true north.
Unfortunately I don't have a copy of Revit in front of me so I will have to work off of memory to direct you to set the true north orientation. Toward the bottom of the "tools" menu there is a submenu where you can select "set project (or true) north". This command works a lot like the rotate command. Pick a point and rotate, or set the rotation in the status bar at the top of the screen.
Typing orientation into the help file will also get you detailed instructions on how to change the orientation of true north.
Cameron Piper
BWBR Architects
St Paul, MN
Message was edited by: CPiper
