topic Re: Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views???? in Revit Architecture Forum

Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views????

CADNoob96 — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 02:14:42 GMT

Hi team,

I am forever trying to understand how the view (not an actual view such as an elevation, literally just looking at the model) rotates/orbits when in Revit in a 3D view.

Does the view rotate only around the Internal Origin of Revit? That is the behavior I seem to observe? Or does it rotate around the Survey Point or the Project Base Point? Can I force Revit to rotate the view around a specific point I chose, for example the corner of a building? Again I am meaning in a 3D modelling context, not an elevation view or anything.

The scenario where I have the most trouble with rotating my 3D view is when I import a survey into Revit from AutoCAD, and the internal origin of the AutoCAD model is at 0,0,0, (as it is with Revit), however the only features in the survey (lines, polygons etc) are off a large distance from the origin at coordinates xxxxxx,yyyyyy,zzzzzz, which is a huge distance away from the origin, so any rotation by holding shift and clicking the mousewheel just throws the model way off the screen??

I could move the entire survey to the origin in the AutoCAD file, however then the coordinates of all the points will be lost and it defeats the purpose of having the geospatial information in the first place....

Can someone explain how on earth I can get Revit to rotate the 3D view around a point of my choosing?

CADNOOB96

Re: Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views????

blank... — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 05:19:43 GMT

@CADNoob96 wrote:
Can I force Revit to rotate the view around a specific point I chose, for example the corner of a building?

Yes, by creating any element where you want the pivot of orbit to be and selecting it. From now on orbit will be around that point.

Or:

I could move the entire survey to the origin in the AutoCAD file, however then the coordinates of all the points will be lost and it defeats the purpose of having the geospatial information in the first place....

Don't move it in AutoCAD, move it in Revit. Link it into Revit, by center to center, move it where you need it, and acquire coordinates. You shouldn't model anything in Revit far from the origin point anyway. Here is a screenshot.

Dark window are coordinates in AutoCAD.

Re: Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views????

Ric_Weber — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 12:56:21 GMT

And you don't have to create a special element to do the first option either. Any element in the model will do. Click a wall on the model, click an existing door... that then becomes your pivot point.

Re: Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views????

mari.shimode — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 06:13:15 GMT

Hi @CADNoob96, did you find the information provided useful? If so, please use Accept Solution so that others may find this in the future.

If you still have the issue, please let us know. Thank you.

Re: Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views????

mari.shimode — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 06:29:54 GMT

Hi @CADNoob96, since the community found @blank...'s reply useful, I have marked it as an accepted solution so others who have the same question in the future can find it easily.

If you're still having the issue or have any other questions related to what you originally asked, please create a new topic with a link to this post included so the community can follow the conversation easily.

Re: Can someone explain rotating the view in 3D views????

Mike.FORM — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:22:20 GMT

One more thing to add is that revit 3d views rotate around the centerpoint of the bounding box of all modeled elements (if nothing is selected) or if you select an element or multiple elements it will rotate around the bounding box of those.

That being said of you select a large element like a floor or your toposolid it gives you less control over where that centerpoint is so when you do select something to use as a pivot point you want it to be smaller, like a door or window or sink since the centerpoint of those elements is basically right where it is located.