Setting up Project North for your Project

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Available for the Following Roles: All Roles

Set up your local project coordinates to orient sketch and move-handle grids to match the orientation of your project, by rotating your map origin.

In this article we cover:

• Quick Intro to Project North
• Adding Local Project Coordinates
• Editing or Deleting Local Coordinates

True North vs. Project North

Every project has two north orientations: True North and Project North.

• True North: The actual geographic north, based on Earth's axis, used for accurate navigation and mapping. The default orientation of your project in cmBuilder is based on True North.
  
  
  
• Project North: A project based reference often aligned with the primary orientation of the project. Used for easier project setup and communication. You can set this up for your specific project using Local project coordinates, covered in this user guide.
  
  

Add Local Project Coordinates

Here is a step-by-step guide to adding new local project coordinates:

1. Within your Project Workspace, go to Coordinate system.
2. Click the "Add" button in front of Local project coordinates.
   
   
   
   The Add New Local Project Coordinate side sheet will open.
   
   
   
   
3. Here, you can rename the new coordinate system you’re creating.
   It will be set as the active coordinate system by default, but you have the option to change this if needed.
   Note: cmBuilder coordinate system is a default coordinate which can't be edited or deleted.
   
4. Next, select a coordinate system for the origin position from the dropdown menu. This determines the placement of the point on the map. The dropdown will display all local and geo-coordinate systems added to your project.
5. Depending on the coordinate system you select, you can define the origin point as X-Y, Latitude-Longitude, or Easting-Northing.
   

   • Updating the value of origin will update the distance from map center (the straight-line distance from this project origin to the center of the map).

   • When you modify the X-Y (or equivalent) coordinates, the compass on the map will dynamically adjust to reflect the change.

6. Enter the Angle to True North, which specifies the rotation required to align the project with True North.

   Once you input the angle, the compass on the map will rotate accordingly.

7. Finally, click Add to save.
   
   Your new project coordinate will appear in the local project coordinates table.

   

Edit or Delete Local Project Coordinates

If you'd like to edit or delete the coordinate, simply click on the 3 dot menu and select the respective option, within the Coordinate system menu.

Edit: Clicking Edit will open the same side sheet used to add the coordinate system. Make any necessary updates to the settings, then click Update to save your changes.

Delete: To delete a coordinate system, open the 3-dot menu and select Delete. A warning modal will appear, informing you that the deletion is permanent and that the active coordinate system will revert to the default cmBuilder system.