| This tutorial was made in RED 2.1 Download the project file here.
1. Start with your favorite logo and bring it in to RED. I used this "TR" I made. This isn't actually used in the comp; just used to trace.
 Click on the image to view larger image. Control-Click (or right click) to download image to disk if you'd like to use the image in your project.
2. Make a spline media track:
Set the opacity to 30% so you can see your logo beneath. Make sure the path track is selected. Select the pen tool and make points on every corner and in the middle of curves.
Don't worry, you can add more later and don't worry about being too precise, you'll have to adjust them anyway. Also, to make a bezier point, as you click down and make the point, drag the mouse away and you will see the handles appear. Bezier points are used to bend the line to make arcs of the curves. I also maginify the composition window to see the details better.
3. Now you'll notice that the inside of the "R" needs to be cut out. One great thing about RED is you can overlay splines in the same track. So, with your pen tool make points around the inside of the "R"
4. Congratulations! You just made a logo! Now go back and adjust your points to your liking and add new ones if need be by alt-clicking where you want it. You can delete points simply by selecting them and hitting delete. Save your project. (Sorry, habit)
5. Now comes the cool part. Control-click both splines to highlight them and in the composite window, go to tools, path, combine contours.
Wham! The inside of the "R" is now cut out! Isn't that cool! I love RED! Save your project.
6. Now comes a cooler part. In the timeline, on your spline track, click on the little yellow oval and select 3D extrusion. Wham! Your logo is now 3D. Adjust the parameters (materials, color, lights, extrusion, bevels, etc.) to your liking and watch the clients jaw drop (and yours) because you just made a vector-based 3D logo from a puny little jpeg!
I really love RED!
--Tim Rice
Discuss this technique or others in the Boris Forum at Creativecow.net.
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