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Placing Your First Rows#

In this step you will place a focus point, draw row reference lines for the first row, configure the Seat Properties pane, and place your first seats. Once that row looks correct you will repeat the process for the remaining rows of the front orchestra and then move on to the rear orchestra.

Step 1 — Place the focus point#

The focus point represents the location the audience is looking toward. The sample theater has one performance area, so it needs one focus point.

  1. On the ribbon, open the P-Seating tab and look at the Tools panel.
  2. Click the Focus Point split button and choose any color — Blue is a good default.
  3. Click a point centered on the front edge of the performance area. A spherical focus point family is placed and is automatically named (for example, FocusPoint-1).

The focus point is automatically selected as the active focus point in the Seat Properties pane.

Rename the focus point#

The focus point can be renamed using the PB_FocusPoint_Name parameter in its instance properties. For the walkthrough, name it Auditorium:

  1. Select the focus point in the plan view.
  2. In Revit's Properties panel, find the PB_FocusPoint_Name parameter.
  3. Set the value to Auditorium and press Enter.

Focus point position affects numbering and end-aligned rows

The focus point does two things:

  • It controls the numbering side: with the Odd-Sequential-Even scheme it should be placed toward the patron's right (House Right).
  • It tells end-aligned row reference lines which end of the line the seats should be aligned to — seats start at the end nearest the focus point.

Place the focus point as close to the center of the viewing area as possible. For a centered performance area, place it on the room's centerline at the front edge of the stage.

Step 2 — Understand where seats sit on the reference line#

Reference lines mark the front of the seat's standard (support) foot — this is where the application inserts each seat. The standard foot sits approximately 1'-0" from the back of the seat, so the back of the seat will land roughly 1'-0" behind the line.

Keep this in mind when locating reference lines relative to walls, steps, and aisles.

Step 3 — Draw the center reference line for Row A#

Row A is the row closest to the performance area. The front orchestra of the sample uses a single center-aligned line in the middle of the room for Rows A through D — there are no side sections until Row E.

  1. On the Tools panel, click the Row Reference split button and choose Place Center Reference.
  2. Use the Pick Lines option in Revit's draw panel to select the front floor datum of the orchestra section.
  3. Press Esc to exit.

You should now have one center-aligned model line along Row A.

Reference lines control placement

Seats fill the full width of the reference line. If a reference line runs up against a wall — especially on a curve — a seat may conflict with the wall when placed. The fix is to stop the reference line short of the wall by a few inches. The reference lines dictate everything for placement; minor cleanup can also be done with the Replace Seats command.

Step 4 — Configure the Seat Properties pane#

Open the Seat Properties pane (click Properties on the Seat Placement panel if it is closed) and set the following:

Location Information

Field Value
Venue Main Auditorium
Section Orchestra Front
Starting Row A
Seat Numbering Odd-Sequential-Even

Seat Families

Field Value
Seat Family Name Generic Fixed Seat
Widths 20", 21", 22", 23" (click Edit... to select)
Additional Gap 1/4"

Row Layouts

Field Value
Calculation Type Even Distribution
Layout Large Center
Starting Row Best fit
Stagger Rows On
Elevation Alignment Floor
Floor Direction Closest

Focus Point

Field Value
Focus Point Auditorium

Step 5 — Place seats on Row A#

  1. On the Seat Placement panel, click Place Seats.
  2. When prompted, click the center reference line for Row A.
  3. Click Finish in the selection bar at the top of the Revit window.

The application places a symmetric layout of seats along the line and assigns them to the Main Auditorium venue, the Orchestra Front section, and Row A.

Step 6 — Place Rows B, C, and D#

Rows B, C, and D are also single center-aligned rows. Use Pick Lines to copy/offset Row A's reference line, then place all three rows in one operation.

  1. Use the Place Center Reference tool with Pick Lines to create three more reference lines for Rows B, C, and D — each offset 3'-0" from the previous row.
  2. Trim each line back to the aisle so it does not extend into the side aisles.
  3. On the Seat Placement panel, click Place Seats and select all three new reference lines at once. Click Finish.

Even / odd starting row

Set the Starting Row parity in the Seat Properties pane to be sure the Odd-Sequential-Even numbering starts on the correct side: choose odd if the first row contains an even number of seats, or even if the first row contains an odd number of seats.

Step 7 — Place Row E (the first row with side sections)#

Row E is the first row with House Left and House Right side sections in addition to the center group.

  1. Offset the Row D center reference line by 3'-0" to create the center reference for Row E.
  2. On each side of the aisle, draw an end-aligned reference line for the side section. Use the Place End Reference tool — these short lines start at the aisle edge and extend toward the wall.
  3. Place rows individually, not all together: place the center first, then each side. Each time, change the Starting Row field back to E so that every line is recorded as part of Row E.

The application does not auto-link row segments

Even though the three lines visually form a single row, the application does not know they belong to the same row unless you explicitly assign the same row identifier to each one when placing.

For the center of Row E, watch the even/odd Starting Row setting as before. For the two outside end-aligned lines, set Starting Row to Best fit so the side sections align cleanly with the center.

Step 8 — Place the remaining front orchestra rows#

You can now place the remaining rows of the front orchestra (through Row N, the last row in the section) using the same approach. There are two ways to move faster:

  • One row at a time, like Row E, with three reference lines per row.
  • Multiple rows at once at the side sections — turn Stagger Rows off and choose Best fit for the Starting Row. This ensures each short side row fits the maximum number of seats it can hold.

Side rows near the back wall

In this model the side sections towards the back of the orchestra have seat arms that interfere with the side walls. Shorten the affected reference lines by a few inches, then run Update Row on each row to clean up the placement.

Step 9 — Place the rear orchestra section#

The rear orchestra is stepped, which changes how reference lines are placed and viewed.

Make the reference lines visible#

If you draw reference lines on top of the rear orchestra steps, the model lines will not show in the plan view because they sit below the step geometry. There are two workarounds:

  • Temporarily switch the view to Wireframe so the lines are visible through the steps. (easiest)
  • Create another level or reference plane above the highest row and host the reference lines on that level instead.

Place the lines and seats#

  • Offset reference lines from the edge of each step by 1'-0" so the back foot of each seat lands cleanly on the tread.
  • Place seats row-by-row using the same workflow as the front orchestra.

Mix position discontinuity#

In the middle of the first three rows of the rear orchestra there is a mix position that breaks the continuity of the center row. The application treats the two halves as separate runs, so the seats on either side of the mix will renumber starting from one. Manually renumber the seats in these rows to keep the sequence continuous across the mix position. (See Working with Seat Numbers for how to override individual seat numbers.)

Section placement is automatic

Notice that you never explicitly tell the application about the floor section (in the architectural sense) — the seats automatically align themselves to the floor at each row. Open the Longitudinal Section view in the sample model to verify that seats follow the stepped floor geometry correctly.

Next step#

Continue to Working with Seat Numbers to verify the numbering result and turn the seat number labels on in your view.