Adding to the growing popularity of avian avatars making their way onto the grid, we introduce the Toucan. Specialising mostly in avatar parts, this is the first complete commercially available avatar from Rez !t; so without further ado, we will begin the review.

Out of the Box:

Observations:

Build and Skin:

–        The avatar comes with a variety of skins, varying from PG male and female to muscular male, and varying levels of ‘adult’ for the females. The styles of the skins are vivid, with the Keel-Billed and Toco decorated in a way that is accurately studied and sympathetically mirrored to the real-life species. Shading is careful and gentle, there is no over-emphasis on any particular body part, and is smooth throughout. Prims are blended to the same good standard and transition nicely with the rest of the avatar’s body.

Click here to view the mature skins. Warning for nudity.

–        The avatar’s attachments are comprised entirely of sculpts – All of which demonstrate a good quality, with no noticeable wrinkling or over-stretching of vectors. The prims fit together well, and overall the build is symmetrical. The avatar’s appearance is highly resolved and made with a rather smooth and rounded style.

Body:

–        Starting with the feet, we are greeted with a fairly accurate rendition of toucan feet, with two toes splayed at the front and back of the foot. Overall the build is simple, yet well-done. Following this, we have the legs, which follow the popular digitigrade style. The leg is all one sculpt, and because of this, there is no tactile, or sculpted differentiation between the feathers and exposed tarsometatarsus (i.e. ‘scaled’ lower legs and feet). This is instead represented with some simple textured ‘fluff’ on the prim to separate the two parts within the leg.  Whilst this method produces a positive aesthetic, the lack of differentiation in thickness between these two parts appears to be slightly off for a bird species, but this likely comes down to personal taste, as the overall result is not unpleasant and is rather fitting with the friendly, toonish style.

–        The toucan comes with a feathery tail, entirely sculpted and very much in keeping with the style of the avatar. The feathers are thick and short, but given a lightweight feel with the carefully placed textures.

–        The arms are textured simply and gently, with a small trace of light that blends easily with the arm of the avatar. There is some sculpted feather-fluff at the wrist, which makes for a more comfortable blend to the firmer nature of the hands. These, in turn are clawed, and much more humanoid in contrast to the feet. There are also optional wrists that include feathers to offer a pair of simplified arm-wings. The feathers are sculpted to a good standard, and are small enough to not interfere too much with the overall style of the avatar with any clipping or bulkiness.

–        The wearer also has the option to wear a pair of back wings, which attach to the shoulders of the avatar. The wings are very small, comprised of single sculpts and are a simple added decoration. There are no animations included with this avatar for flight, and the wings come in one state per type.

Head:

–        The toucan’s head is rather large in comparison with the proportions on the rest of the avatar, but it creates an effective contrast. The ‘fluff’ on the toucan’s cheeks are also very rounded and less reminiscent of feathers, which is further referenced in the provided hair and chest-fluff. The general head shape is rather spherical, and encompasses a pair of very large, expressive eyes with sculpted blinking eyelids and colour-changing options readily available. The state of the aforementioned eyelids can be altered according to the heads-up display (HUD) for those who would like their toucan to appear either more alert or relaxed.

–        The focal point of this avatar as one might expect is the beak. Each colour variation is bright, striking and accurate in its markings. Understandably, the beak is shortened in comparison to the real-world type, adding positively to the whole style of the avatar. In the end, the avatar has a rather cute and curious appearance. The jaw moves upon speaking or typing, and the tongue is recolourable from the colour-picker tool within the HUD.

Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):

–        The HUD itself is incredibly easy to use and just as easy on the eyes. All of the options that the user will require are all based on one page, and are easily hidden with one click of the cute toucan mascot image. There are options to alter the colour of the eyes and tongue, with the previously mentioned ability to change the eyelid states.

Customisation:

– The avatar is sold as modifiable, so that the user may resize, stretch and move aspects around to their hearts’ content. I’ve found that the rounded shape of the head and small forehead may serve as a mild difficulty when it comes to finding suitable hair. Anything with bangs for instance, may have to be modified in order to accommodate the beak. On the whole, the attachments do not overload the avatar, so that the wearer is free to add clothing to the body without too much of an issue.

Conclusion:

–  All in all, this is an extremely well made avatar, the effort that has gone into the sculpting and texturing is more than obvious – this coupled with the asking price makes the whole package extremely reasonable. As a fan of avians, I feel that the toucan is a welcome addition to the grid, adding one more unusual species to the growing list of exotic creatures available.