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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 5:39 AM Last edited by sansseraphim : 29th Apr 2013 at 6:26 AM.
Default 3D Printing Your Sims
Hi, everyone. I've used downloads from modthesims since I got the Sims 2 base game all those years ago, but I've mostly avoided the forums. I apologize if this is the wrong place for this topic, but I didn't really see a category that fits.

Anyway. A friend of mine recently got a 3D printer. According to her, there are people who have made it possible to 3D print figurines based on Sims made in Sims 3, but a Google search has returned nothing helpful- a few different ways to print cities from SimCity 4 come up, but nothing regarding Sims.

I was wondering if any of you were involved in 3D printing and, if you are, if there are programs or techniques you'd be willing to share for the process of turning Sims into actual objects. It sounds like it would be complicated, but ultimately very rewarding for us to be able to print our beloved Sims.

EDIT: I've found various utilities here on modthesims meant for meshers that export objects, hair, clothing, and the like to Blender or another program for editing, but I haven't yet found anything that imports and renders .sim files, which seems like it would be the logical first step in 3D printing a Sim.
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Test Subject
#2 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 6:31 AM
whoa this is a fantastic idea! i don't really have any information to give on this (sorry xD; ) but it seems something worth looking into. now i'm really interested haha
Scholar
#3 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 9:57 AM
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#4 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 10:15 AM
There's no mesh of a sim, at least not anywhere we've been able to find. You can, of course, export the meshes for your sim's various items of clothing, hair, jewellery and so on, combine them and print them. The face is more difficult, because as best as modders can tell, the face is generated on-the-fly by the game, by applying morphs to one default head mesh. There's no way, as yet, to export that generated mesh.

So, you can certainly print sims, if you don't mind them having a boring default face. Making the meshes watertight would be a gigantic pain in the ass depending on what your sim is wearing. Some (all?) printing services require you to use quads, while sims meshes use triangles, so if that's a technical necessity for all 3D printing (it might not be, I don't know) then you'd need to find a way to quadinate the mesh, too.

Definitely doable. Hugely time consuming. :P

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#5 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 12:44 PM
Periandre: That's actually pretty neat, though not exactly what I was imagining.

whiterider: Hm. Even assuming I learned the skills needed to piece together a Sim from exported parts, being stuck with a generic face is a huge letdown, I think. That would be especially true for people who wanted to print lovingly crafted Sim versions of characters they write or roleplay. Still, it might be worth doing a time or two with the generic face, just for the ability to say it had been done. Either way, thank you for lending your expertise!
Mad Poster
#6 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 2:12 PM
Hmm. With the Ambitions ep, sim sculptures can be made, but I suppose that information is stored in the save file somewhere.

♥ }i{ Monarch of the Receptacle Refugees }i{ ♥
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#7 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 3:58 PM
I did take a look at the Amb sculptures once, to see if I could get the meshes out of that, but I never got far. I don't remember why - I probably just didn't have time.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Field Researcher
#8 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 7:33 PM
brb, gonna have a gander at this 3d printing contraption. might even get one for....
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 3:13 AM
I have a printer and was wondering the same-- I do have an idea how it might be possible however with 3d scanning soft ware you might be able to just record the screen, and use a custom plain white background, manually rotate the sim and 3d capture the likeness.
3d scanning soft ware works by getting a 360 view and only recreates the subject that is moving so you would also have to lock them into a pose..

That is definitely something I am going to look into, it would be cool to create a friend as a sim and print them out as a gift
Mad Poster
#10 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 4:26 AM
You can definitely do it, but you need to rip the actual sim models out of the game using a 3D ripper first.
Top Secret Researcher
#11 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 2:29 PM
Huh... why didn't I think to do that. Import the mesh into blender, pose it, and then export it in a format my machine can read.
I know what I'm gonna do today.

Sims are better than us.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 27th Feb 2018 at 12:12 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Emmett Brown
Huh... why didn't I think to do that. Import the mesh into blender, pose it, and then export it in a format my machine can read.
I know what I'm gonna do today.


Cool! Let us know how it goes.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 27th Feb 2018 at 12:41 AM
So what is this "3d ripper" thing then, and how does it work?

Edit: either I'm doing something wrong or it doesn't work with TS3.

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#14 Old 27th Feb 2018 at 4:37 PM
The button system with 3D ripper is confusing. I'll tell you that! But once you figured it out, and the shortcuts and such it will make you go 'aaah... ahh!!!' Do make sure to refer to the TS3W.exe one when making images, and make sure it skips the launcher, else it's not gonna work out... at least it didn't for me when that happened. Also it should be set as 'directx9'.

Small warning... you will internally cry (or scream!) when seeing all the small model pieces it exported.... Believe me Finding your sim is like digging something up that you dug 2 years ago... you might know the spot, but figuring out how deep you dug it is always a mystery.
Mad Poster
#15 Old 27th Feb 2018 at 4:37 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
So what is this "3d ripper" thing then, and how does it work?

Edit: either I'm doing something wrong or it doesn't work with TS3.


I think these were the settings used:


http://golyhawhaw.tumblr.com/post/1...ike-the-way-daz
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#16 Old 27th Feb 2018 at 4:38 PM
Field Researcher
#17 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 9:07 AM
3d printing your sims.. Some hardcore fans here!

Or is it just the pride and joy of generally 3d printing something?
Site Helper
#18 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 5:11 PM
Maybe it's a way to play SIms when you aren't able to use your computer.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Mad Poster
#19 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 6:22 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Ghost sdoj
Maybe it's a way to play SIms when you aren't able to use your computer.

I never realized the potential of making your own action figures this way.



All I need now is a good Sim lookalike and a lightsaber prop.

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Test Subject
#20 Old 27th Jun 2020 at 7:07 PM
Hey Folks, this makes me wonder something. Sims aren't mesh, but what about the replacement skins?

I play a whole different game, Second Life, and the Avatars have mesh bodies and heads, and hair....but it's all proprietary.
You could make your Sim into a mesh avatar and then 3D print him/her?
Mad Poster
#22 Old 28th Jun 2020 at 4:51 PM
3d printing your sims is possible now I think, as CmarNYC has a program that can extract your sims' meshes as .obj!

https://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=639447

I presume that afterwards, you'll need to do some cleanup on the mesh to make sure it's watertight (no holes between interior and exterior), and to remove some of the fine details that might not print well.

I also think that you'll need to paint your sims yourself afterwards, but that's expected IMO.
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