Converting 2D to 3D

You would think it was simple to extrude a 2D black & white image into 3D space.  I tried a number of avenues.  They all pretty much have two large steps: 1) Provide a vector file like SVG or DXF and 2) Extrude in a 3D. I tried out a number of 3D modeling...

Comparing renderers for SketchUp

SketchUp is proving to be interesting.  At some point, everyone wants to take their crude models and render them beautifully.  SketchUp does not really come with the ability to render more realistic-looking scenes.  For any functionality that SketchUp lacks, the norm...