Default Orientation/ViewCube

[autodeskGGG5S]

I am brand new to Fusion 360 with a 20 year background using Adobe Illustrator in two dimensions which is proving a bit of a drawback when it comes to 3D.

I'm watching YouTube videos to get started but I am coming across the same stumbling block all the time because the videos all seem to have a different home orientation to me, different axis colours and the ViewCube axes are different (please see attachments). The labels TOP, FRONT and RIGHT are the same but that's about it, X, Y and Z are different. The graph lines on the YouTube videos are red top left to bottom right and blue, top right to bottom left but mine are red top left to bottom right and green top right to bottom left.

I can't see any settings to change this and I have played Rubik's ViewCube forever trying to match the orientation but I really can't follow any tutorials properly if we don't start on the same page.

Can anybody offer any advice, please?

[edit] I actually just found the answer by near accident. I had tried changing the default orientation setting in my profile preferences from X up to Y up but nothing happened but then tried opening a new document and there it was.

I suppose I should wonder why producers of videos for absolute beginners change this default setting without explaining to their viewers what they have done because it is very confusing to try to follow.

I'd delete the post but don't seem able to do so, perhaps I should leave it anyway for anybody else who is confused.

[jeff_strater]

it is most likely  the Modeling Orientation - there are two choices:  Z-up or Y-up:

Try changing this preference and see if that makes the difference.  In the past years, the default has changed from Y-up to Z-up, and perhaps you are seeing videos from prior to this change

[autodeskGGG5S]

Thank you for your reply. As you will see in the edit to my post, I had tried that but had not realised that it only applied to new documents.

[jeff_strater]

yes, that is correct. This setting only applies to new designs.  This is not the fault of the video creators.  The default used to be Y-up, and is now Z-up.  Many of those videos were created when Y-up was the default.  Once created, those videos just exist forever, and there is no way to "future-proof" such videos.   The UI changes, default settings change, etc.

[autodeskGGG5S]

Okay, well I can appreciate that but being completely new to this, it is difficult enough to get started without feeling like I've got my pants on back to front. That said, being totally new, I don't know when the default orientation changed but the videos I am currently watching for absolute beginners were produced less than a year ago and the same content creator uploaded a tutorial as recently as December 2020 with the Y-up orientation.

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@autodeskGGG5S wrote:

The labels TOP, FRONT and RIGHT are the same but that's about it, X, Y and Z are different. 

Can anybody offer any advice, please?

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Actually X, Y and Z are always the same.  What you prefer to call "Top" is relative.

Imagine that you are on the international space station.  What is "top"?

For others who might come across this thread, simply right click on the view cube to define Top or Front to whatever you want relative to Z.

[autodeskGGG5S]

Yes, everything is relative, I know that, I'm curious how your comment it helpful to somebody who is a total novice and could not follow the instructions in a video because the interfaces did not match.