This is a very simple situation; one that is fairly easy to work around, but I don't understand the need for extra mouse clicks.
I'm wondering if I'm just missing something.
ZW was the CAD software we used to use. In ZW you could click on the view you needed to sketch from and when choosing the datum that was parallel to the screen the placement of the sketch did not move. For sanity's sake I like to view a sketch from it's logical direction.
I'm wishing the same thing was possible in Creo (Perhaps it is, but I've not got this to work with the FRONT VIEW sketch)
My views and datums are not the standard Creo orientation. I've changed this to the World View Coordinate System.
This is how the view orientation looks lined up with the datums.
Let's say I want to make a sketch from the Front View.
1) I set up to be in the Front View.
2) I pick the Front Plane. BELOW IS THE ORIENTATION I WANT TO END UP WITH.
When I do 3) select Sketch it completely flips the view orientation as shown.
I can get this back to the orientation I WANT TO END UP WITH but it takes a couple additional sketch orientation steps. I need to Flip Section
After this I need to Flip Sketch Plane and it is back to the ORIENTATION I WANT TO END UP WITH.
As stated above this only doesn't work with the FRONT VIEW. If I go into a template that I didn't change to World View all 3 main directions work with the sketch orientation.
I can get the FRONT VIEW sketch to fall in it's true position if I don't select the Front Datum prior to selecting sketch and flip the arrow so it is pointing down instead of up as follows.
Everything else appears to be correct with my View and Datum orientations, they act like they should.
Does anyone have an idea of how I could by default get the arrow to be flipped to aim into the screen without having to select this manually? I think this would prevent the flipping and rotating of the FRONT VIEW.
Dave: I like this idea but when I Edit Definition to the Datum it appears the Normal is in the correct orientation without flipping it.
Yep, so your planes all have their 'front' in the +ve axis direction.
What about your views? From your pictures, it seems you want Front to be viewing on the 'back' of that plane - i.e. the +ve Y-axis direction is into the screen. Is this the case for your other named views - are they defined with the +ve X- and Z-axes pointing into the screen?
Also:
Paul Imm wrote:
... if I don't select the Front Datum prior to selecting sketch...
I always use the explicit Sketch Placement dialogue (i.e. never select a plane before sketching), otherwise you're leaving Creo to guess what you want to be your top / right / whatever orientation reference. It's good practice in Creo to always know exactly what you're referencing, for every feature.
In our start part we've got round this problem completely by calling the planes X_0, Y_0 and Z_0, and having six views called X_Front, X_Rear, Y_Front, etc. 
- it's very hard to say what the front, top or right of a shaft, gear or bearing is in any case!
Technically both have the same coordinate system (right hand), but PTC has chosen to name the planes associated with each direction differently. Practically this means the PTC default looks like a "world coordinate system" tipped forward 90 degrees.
World CS (z up)
PTC Default (y up)
Again, by simply rotating the model to a z-up position, you can clearly see the CS really is the same, it's just the plane names that are different.
By the way, the z-out and y-up comes from 2D land (before 3D existed) and continues to this day in several different CAD platforms.
Now, while you can create a proper z-up start part with proper views, not everything inside Creo can be adjusted to look right. There are still issues with shadows going the wrong way when viewing shading w/reflections, etc.
Hi Paul,
Try setting the option in your Config so that Sketching does not orient to 2D. Can't remember the option name but it is something like;
Reorient Sketcher to 2D with the default Yes
If you try it for a while you may like it 
I am happy to use the default plane orientation but then I have used it for so long it just seems normal. If I need some other reference system for discussion/export to a third party I just add another CYS to suit that and more named views that I can use in a drawing if required. PCB export to an ECAD package is such an example but could be that sheet metal or making a 3D print from a simpler 3D printer sometimes needs this too.
Regards, Brent
The way I remember the default orientations is to imagine I'm facing an object such as a computer screen. The front faces me, the right side is "my" right. the top matches my up. Also X grows to the right, Y grows toward the top, and Z grows out the screen toward me. (for the defaults) (order of rotations follow right-hand-rule. if Z is your thumb, X is your index finger, and Y is your middle finger. (XYZ, YZX, ZXY - from thumb-index-middle) and the rotation around the thumb axis is in the direction you'd fold your fingers to close to a fist.
Automatic Sketch Orientation (in my experience):
when you choose a datum plane to sketch on creo does 3 things:
1) sets the sketch so that the plane normal is facing toward you.
2) sets the up-direction such that the datum plane moves the least. in other words, if you had the plane you were choosing in the exact position you wanted to start sketching, it won't rotate at all.
3) sets the sketcher orientation reference to the first available datum plane. and chooses the orientation mode that matches the creo-decision made for step 2.
Assume the default 3 datum planes from the standard mmns_solid.prt template that ships with creo. Datum Plane Order is RIGHT, TOP, FRONT.
if you choose "RIGHT" datum plane to sketch on, creo will rotate the sketcher so that the datum's normal is pointing toward you, as close to the same orientation as you had. Then will use the "TOP" plane as the orientation reference.
For your first example you are not actually asking for a front view. you are looking for a front-facing view, which is the back view of the object. That is, you are looking forward as if you were the object, but in actuality since you are outside of the object, and looking at it, you are looking at it's back side.
So for your example, you choose the "FRONT" datum plane and if creo defaults to using the "RIGHT" plane as your orientation, when you "flip" the orientation it will turn your sketch plane upside down while flipping it. If instead you move the TOP datum to the before the RIGHT datum plane, then when you "flip" the orientation it will rotate your sketch plane around the vertical axis because the orientation reference would be the TOP plane instead of the RIGHT plane.
as:
WHEN YOU REVERSE THE ORDER OF THE DATUM PLANES, THE SKETCHER ORIENTATION DEFAULT PLANE BECOMES TOP INSTAEAD OF RIGHT.
NOW FLIP THE PLANE AND TOP STAYS FACING TOP!!!! (This is the order I have my planes in my start part and it saves me a ton of headache))
