Huskies have been a bit of a popular species of avatar to wear in Second Life, especially after work of earlier husky avatars sparked their popularity in-world. In this review, we see Kinzart Kreetures join the line of creators who have interpreted the familiar, curly-tailed canine.

Out of the Box:

Measurement	Value
Script Time with HUD	~0.25
Script Time without HUD	~0.06
Avatar Rendering Cost	~1238-1394

• Male and Female Skins/Shapes
• Mature Female Skins
• Tintable Hair
• Two-Tone, Separately Tintable Eyes
• Twitching Ears with 4 States
• Muzzle Talking Function (For Voice and Chat)
• Tongue In/Out Toggle
• Tail Wag Toggle
• Hands with 7 Poses
• Harness fitted for males and females

Body and Skin:

In terms of patterns, husky fur coats are not necessarily the most complex, so the skin for this avatar is not that complex either. However, the creator has, like others in such a situation, taken care to add definition in terms of  highlighting parts of the anatomy and making shading gradations to give the impression of fur. Over the body there is gentle brushstrokes and aforementioned gradations which makes the fur look a little bit more organic and believable. This leads the textures to be of a decently soft and well-defined quality which does well to give body to the avatar’s skin.

The avatar comes with both male and female shapes; with an alternative mature skin for females. Different hairstyles are offered for each sex as well. It should be noted that the female hairstyle that comes with this avatar has to be one of the best default hairstyles that I have seen come ’stock’ with an avatar.

Take Notice: The pictures under this link are rated Mature – Click here to view the Female Adult Skin

The feet are good constructions of domestic canine feet, each toe articulated and textured to divide each one from the next. The pawpads are black and well-proportioned, and each toe is tipped with equally well-proportioned claws. The feet give way to digitigrade legs that are decently shaped and accented with good textures, but the design of the digitigrade leg is slightly less robust as in other Kinzart avatars, especially in the area where the digi-leg interacts with the back of the foot itself.

The tail on this avatar remains similar to the idealised husky tails that we’ve come to expect in Second Life huskies, but with some new re-imagining. For the most part, the tail is made up of sculpts and flexi-prims. Such a combination that makes for a fluffy, yet overall smooth-looking tail that gives the avatar a more distinctly husky-like appearance (Though real husky tails doubtfully curl so perfectly). All of the textures on the tail ensure that the different prims that make up the tail make a smooth visual transition to the avatar’s body.

The hand-attachments follow the style of the foot-paws, but remain hand-like in appearance, with 5 fingers as opposed to the 4 toes on the feet. Each finger is tipped with a claw while the underside and palm of the hand  featured contoured paw-pads. The hand-attachment size is decent and allows the user to get away without needing arm attachments. The user is able to set hand-poses on each hand separately, (e.g. open, point, fist).

At last, we take on the discussion of the head. The head overcomes the tail as the defining factor of this avatar.

What perhaps stands out on this avatar the most, other than the rest of the facial features would have to be the nose.  In general, it takes up most of the front of the muzzle, thick, dark and with appropriate texturing. Some peers have noted how the nose bears a slight reminiscence to the popular Bolt Character from Disney’s Bolt ©. In the end, the matter of the nose is left to personal taste; some will find it absolutely adorable while others will not.

Regardless, the muzzle is well sized, making a good transition against the face, though because the muzzle-prim is separate from the head-prim, we see a little bit of a seam thanks to the fur’s (usually) whiteness in those areas. As is now protocol with Kinzart avatars, users can smile or frown. Meanwhile, the bottom jaw articulates well with the upper jaw and the head. The interior of the mouth is well made; complete with a good tongue, gums, and a full set of teeth. Funnily enough, however, the teeth on this avatar are quite large, sharp and numerous, which makes the set of jaws more akin to perhaps a piranha than a domesticated canid. That aside, though, the teeth are well made and arranged.

The sides of the face are framed with simple prim fluff which gives the head more depth and width from just about any angle that one looks at it from. Above the cheek-fluff and muzzle, we note the eyes. The eyes on this avatar forward-facing, brightly textured and large. This is a bit of a creative spin on a real husky which normally has relatively smaller eyes. As such, the face gets a bit of a puppy-dog look; almost wet-eyed with a cute factor. This generally adds to youthful presence to the avatar; an approachable, gentle kind of a look people like to see in dogs. Users are able to use a few different eye and eyebrow settings here.

The avatar comes with a male and a female hair that users can swap out and change, but the head itself is well textured for if the wearer wishes to go without any hair attachments. In general, the transition between fur colours on the forehead do a good job of portraying that of a husky’s.

Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):

The one notable feature that comes with the avatar is that of the included harness. The harness is basically the same for both sexes, but has different dimensions and fit for either one. The following picture shows the harness on a male from the front and the back. It should be suitable for people who innocently like to wear harnesses like a dog-sled husky, or for those who wish to participate in more involved roleplay.

The HUD controls all of the major functions of the avatar, but the commands for most of the HUD functions are contained in the included “Husky Documentation!” notecard. They are as follows:

• Page One:
  • Ear State (Up, Down, Perked, etc.), Ear Twitching On/Off Toggle, Turn-Back-when-typing On/Off Toggle
  • Eyelid State (Open, Squint, etc.), Eye Expression (Sad, Neutral, Angry)
  • Mouth Smile/Frown Toggle, Tongue In/Out Toggle
  • Tail Wag On/Off Toggle
  • 7 Hand States (Point, Middle-Finger, etc.
• Page Two:
  • Custom Jaw Rotation Setting (How large do you want your mouth to be open)
  • Left and Right Eye
    • Two Tone-Eye Colour and Glow Choices

Customisation:

This avatar is easy to customise thanks to its Copy-Modify Permissions. The head is sized well and as such, fitting third-party hairs to the husky head is less than difficult. In general, the avatar is very malleable, so users are able to shift from a husky to some  canine species with some creative and thoughtful modifications.

Conclusion:

The Kinzart Husky is an altogether well-rounded and neat avatar for those who would like to add yet another husky avatar to their collection. It keeps within the standard of quality that Kinzart has set for itself, while continually providing a new perspective on a species that has been done time and time again. The bright eyes and big black nose give the husky a unique, youthful appearance; clearly an adult with a puppy-ish spirit within.