PART FOUR: Positioning the text and creating the sphere

Now that we have the background image in place we can adjust the camera to line the text up with the background. We do this by using the Select and Move tool. I find it's easiest to work in the View Coordinate System when doing this. This means that no matter which of the three views we use (Front, Top, or Left), X is always the horizontal axis and Y is always the veritcal axis. This is quicker than having to switch the axis constraints constantly. With the move tool active we simply adjust the camera until our text spline lines up with the background image in the Camera View. This requires pulling the camera down on the Y axis of the Top viewport to move it out in front of the text. Then adjust it's position using the Front and Left views until you have a close match.

With that done, we're now ready to create the Sphere. To do this we go to the Create Panel under Geometry and choose Standard Primitives from the dropdown list.Then activate the Sphere button and click and drag in the Front viewport, starting at the center of the text, to create the Sphere. There are a few things we need to do to our newly created Shere before it will be ready to use to create the logo. First of all we need to rotate it 90 degrees around the X axis of the Front viewport so that its poles (where the lines join to form a single point) are located at the top and bottom instead of the front and back. To do this we use the Select and Rotate tool. We want to make sure that the X axis constraint is active and that we're using the View Coordinate System. In order to ensure that we rotate it exactly 90 degrees we'll use Angle Snap. This makes it so it will rotate in increments of 5 degrees, making it easier to stop right at 90. The status bar at the bottom of the screen will show the amount of rotation as we go. When we reach 90 we stop. Now we need to increase the number of segments in the sphere. We could use it as-is but it would look pretty cruddy when it renders. Normally all you need is 32 segments in a sphere to have it give you acceptably smooth results, but since we're going to use it as part of a shape merge we need a high level of detail so that the extruded text will look smooth and not create any artifacts in the Sphere surface. To do this we must have the Sphere selected and go to the Modify Panel. In the Parameters Roll-out, increase the number of segments to 120.

Finally, we need to align the Sphere with the background image in the Camera View. We want to make sure that the Sphere is sitting behind the spline and not intersecting it at all. We want it as close to the spline as possible so there won't be much change when we project the spline onto the sphere in the next step. Using Select and Move, position the Sphere behind the spline (above the spline in the Top viewport). Then adjust the radius value in the Modify panel. You'll need to go back and forth between moving the sphere and adjusting the radius until you have it as close to the spline as possible and matched with the background image in the camera view.

Now that we have our elements in place, we're ready to merge the spline with the sphere to create the logo.

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