Ferg,
Titanium needs the light source to have a path that reflects directly to the viewer’s eye or camera. This causes shadows or keystone effects. I could use a script to un-keystone, but that has other issues. I’m starting to wonder if I could put a circle light directly around the camera lens so I have as close as possible to reflection right back to the lens without shadows.
Your “practice and experiment and throw away a lot” messages is great advice! With the advent of digital cameras, throwing away is a lot cheaper than it was when I got my first SLR (Canon AE-1),
Was the birch veneer finished at all when you engraved it?