CarpetShark avatars release a creature that meets their namesake into the grid with the ferret! Uncommon within SL, we take a look at this flexible mammal as CSAs second release.
Out of the Box:
| Features | Permissions and Statistics |
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Observations:
Build and Skin:
The texture quality on the skin and attachments retain the same quality found in CSAs debut avatar. The ferret comes with male and female PG skins, and there is a choice before you purchase between the standard or ‘alternative’ patterns of each colour. The skins themselves are textured with a combination of airbrushed surfaces and sharp, detailed edges accented to give the suggestion of a furry surface. The textures on the avatar as a whole are bold and finely executed. There is not a large emphasis on shading, resulting in a none-too busy effect which is neither overly toonish nor busy., and give enough of an indication of form and light with subtle highlighting. The texturing on the hands, legs and tail don’t appear to suffer from mismatched seams at all. Granted, the only texture issue that can be seen upon closer inspection is the faint pale vertical line of a texture edge inderneath the eyes of the ‘regular’ coloured ferrets. This is not a deal killer by any means, as the overal quality remains at a high on the rest of the build.
The ferret is built almost exclusively with sculpted prims, save for the tail, which is built using the now commonplace method of stacking flexible cone prims with semi-transparent textures. The sculpts have been done in such a way that not many are required to produce the desired outcome, this is true most of all in the execution of the head, where the ‘main’ peice consists of only one prim, where other mainstream makers are more prone to making a prim to support the eyes, and another to support the muzzle area. This is done without any apparent overstretching of polys.
Body:
The ferret feet do not come in the form of standardised paws, which is a sure positive. Splayed rounded toes with small claws blend into conservatively made feet, which slope in such a way that they may be attached without any extra leg pieces. The texturing is simple, but sympathetic to the overall build in style and remains accurate to the species in regards to how the pawpads are laid out.
This simple but effective style continues in the legs, where all that’s really needed is a clear-cut shape to aid the transition between the feet and knees. The legs are well executed for this, and there are no instances of irregularity or corner cutting in their construction. Users are also offered the option of having the feet and legs combined in one attachment through the ‘semi-digitigrade’ legs. At a glance, but the semi-digitigrade leg is wider at the base (to support the linked feet) with a more pronounced heel, making the overall attachment a little more heavyset in its appearance.
The tail is a simple construction of narrow, flexible cone prims. They’re aligned perfectly, and there are never any instances where the peices fall out of sync. The tail itself has two controls affecting it in the HUD; the angle, defining whether it is up or down, and a controller that defines whether or not the tail is wagging/twitching. There is also movement of the tail when the user clicks it, toggling its position.
The hand attachments are more akin to human hands with ferret-like nuances. Long fingers detailed with pads and tipped with claws define these attachments without being overly complicated, and they bland easily from the wrist with the aid of alpha textures. Another small attachment worth mentioning is the small ‘tuft’ of hair/fur at the back of the neck to transition to the default hair peice on the ferret’s skull, if the user chooses to use it.
Head:
The head is built in a similar way to the corgi, in that the ‘main’ part of it consists of one solid sculpted prim. This is excellently done, and it means that any modification or re-texturing that the user wishes to carry out can be done with little to no hassle regarding matching seams beyond the jawline or back of the head. The ferret also comes with a couple of new features – using the HUD the user can also change the texture of the ferret’s nose from the default to darker or lighter variants. The ears are small and well proportioned, and the wearer has the choice as to whether they twitch in general on their own, or if they move upon typing or speaking – along with this, the ears also twitch upon being clicked.
The jaw is similarly well sculpted, and the head is altogether symmetrical and resolved. The inside of the mouth has not been left out either, with organic textures that match the overall style, including a set of sculpted teeth and a tongue which can be positioned through the use of the HUD.
The eyes are a key feature in the ferret. Wearers have the option to set the primary and secondary colour of the left and right eyes independently, so whether they’re going for a standard pairing of shades or something heterochromic, the choices don’t dissappoint. Along with the initial line of colour choices is a line of greyscale options. If the user goes into the build/edit menu on the HUD, they can assign their own colours to these spots, just in case the given options don’t quite meet the avatar owner’s requirements. Another new feature found in the HUD enables the wearer to alter the pupil sizes.
Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):
The HUD is small, simple and easy to use with a button to hide it away when not in use. WIthin the HUD are well illustrated diagrams of everything the user can do: Change eye states, jaw and tongue positions, eye colours, pupil size, ear twitch and tail movement options.
Customisation:
Due to the simple way the avatar has been sculpted and put together – and it’s modify permissions, it’s safe to say that the ferret is an easily customisable avatar in regards to modding and retexturing. The head shape easily accommodates third party hair, and the space left on the avatars body due to not being covered entirely in prims means that it’s simple enough for wearers to add texture, sculpt or mesh based clothing without any real issues.
Conclusion:
There aren’t a great deal of ferret avatars on the grid, so in a sense they are still somewhat under represented, but this addition is certainly a positive one. In all the avatar is highly resolved in regards to its texturing, sculpting and scripting. The CSA ferret is an enjoyable avatar to use, particularly due to the charming character that it appears to portray in its expressive, wide-eyed face.
 Clothing provided by Apricot Paws!Worn in photo:
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