If you care about project north, and accurate shadows, and accurate natural lighting, I would advise you to establish the Project North from day 1 if you can. I have seen that some objects such as plumbing fixtures and furniture elements refuse to rotate along with the other elements when the project is in a somewhat advanced stage. You don't need to "draw the model in true north and create project north for the views". You can create the model in the orientation that is more comfortable for you, which most likely is what we call the project north, even after having rotated the project to the True North.
Since this is a common question, I am going to transfer here a reply I wrote for another group, which might be useful to clarify other related issues, (using 2011), such as Sun Path, shadows, Project North, True North, etc.:
If you don't specify a location for your project nor a true orientation to the North, then True North and Project North are aligned. N is up on the screen. The floor plan view's orientation parameter could be either True North or Project North. The result will be the same (See figure 1 in the illustration). Shadows will not be accurate.
The Sun Path diagram is always pointing to the True North. You cannot rotate the diagram as you would rotate any other entity.
To change the True North : from a floor plan > from the view's properties > change the Orientation parameter to True North, then do > Manage > Rotate True North > rotate it, for example, 20 degrees to the right. (See figure 2 in the illustration).
To orient the floor plan view back to Project North: from a floor plan > from the view's properties > change the Orientation parameter to Project North. The project will be oriented as it was before rotating the True North, but now, the Sun Path will be rotated 20 degrees to the left, with its quadrants pointing to the True North. (See figure 3 in the illustration).
To read the angle of deviation from Project North in relation to True North: Sun Settings > Click on the button next to the name of the city > Site > lower left portion of the window.
To get accurate shadows, now that you have established a True North, you need a geographical location, a date, and a time. Go to Sun Path settings. Solar study > still ; Settings : select a date, a time, and click on the button next to Location. Define location by: Internet Mapping Service : type the full street address and zip code of your project., and Google will find it in the map. OK to finish. You might need to check your elevation views, to check they have the same Sun Path settings of date and time. Elevations will continue to display accurate shadows, regardless of the orientation parameter of your floor plans.
Alfredo Medina _________________________________________________________________ ______
Licensed Architect (Florida) | Freelance Instructor | Autodesk Expert Elite (on Revit) | Profile on Linkedin
