Im pretty sure I'm in the wrong section, but I really don't know where else to post this.
I've been trying to open up my saved sims in s4pe, but none of the files in the "Tray" folder is possible to open in s4pe. What I'd like to do is extract the model of my saved sims. I've found the extracted base TS4 female model already, but I'd like to have the faces I've 'made' in CAS. Can anyone help me out here?

Answering my own thread here; I actually figured it out! So forget about TS4 models, what about TS3 models? I don't have TS3 installed so everytime I open a .sim file in S3PE it goes as "unknown".

You need to ask about TS3 issues in the TS3 Creation Forum, but as regards opening a .sim file with s3pe, IIRC from back when I used to do TS3 creation, a .sim file is just a list of coordinates telling the game what slider values to use for that sim and what hair, skin, etc that sim was saved with, so S3PE won't be able to enable you to extract a sim mesh from a .sim file.

There is a page here that gives downloadable TS3 body and face/head meshes: http://modthesims.info/t/411795 . Note that (unless things have changed since I did TS3 creation) you can only extract a default sim body and face from TS3, not a custom sim you made in CAS, because the extracted sim does not retain the slider adjustments you make to it in CAS.

I'm moving this to TS3 Create since you say the TS4 question is solved. If you need more help/info about TS4, please start a new thread!

If you have Ambitions(?), you could have a sim sculpt the sim you want to extract the model for and then see if you can fish the mesh for the statue out of your save file.

Sorry, just thought I'd rather add the TS3 question here rather than filling the forum with new threads. =) But since the topic has been moved, on with the discussion!
Nysha: I don't actually have TS3 installed at all right now so that can't be done unfortunately.
Esmeralda: Thanks, I really thought you could extract it from s3pe.

So I can't seem to find any way to do this at all, I suppose installing TS3 and running 3D Ripper Dx is the only way?

I would appreciate this - I would very much fancy having high-detail models of my Sims in Blender. Then I'll have everything I need to make the gorgeous cinematics I've been planning out for ages.

*big bump*

I'm afraid so. It's a little involved and requires some wrangling with the scale tools in 3DS Max. The best way to rip is in the CAS screen, while the Sim is still doing a neutral pose/facial expression.

I think it's theoretically possible to parse the values off the .sim file and use it to make a Sim viewer of sorts. It just surprises me that no one seems to think about doing so.

What about implementing sliders in Blender rigs? I suppose that's the easier option...those rigs have default faces and bodies now, surely it's possible to apply sliders to those.