[Inkscape-user] 3d type effect.

It is well known how to create drop shadow effects in various tools including inkscape. What I am asking about is a true 3d effect, such as you see in the opening credits of movies in the 1930's and 1940's. I can see how one can do it manually, with two representations of each character overlapping and lines drawn by hand between corresponding vertices. But is there a less tedious way?