For their sophomore avatar, Pound Lunt goes for two rarely covered breeds of canine; Dalmations and Doberman Pinschers. With these two varieties of dog offered, the creator has taken skills employed in their preceding avatar and brought together new techniques and ideas. The result has been cute, cartoon interpretations of the two canines.

Out of the Box:

Measurement	Value
Script Time with HUD	~0.200
Script Time without HUD	~0.094
Avatar Rendering Cost	~540

• Male and Female Shapes
  • Colour-Changeable Feminine Lips available for Females through HUD
• Choice of 3 Different Ear-Types (Up, Flopped Down, Folded Back)
  • Choice of 2 Ear Textures (Dalmation Only)
  • Ear Twitching
• 3 Eye states (Open, Closed, Tired)
  • 25 Pre-made eye-texture/colourations
  • 7 Different Colours of Eyelids/Eyeshadow (Doberman Pinscher Only)
  • 4 Combinations of Eye-Spot Textures (Dalmation Only)
• Sculpted or Flexi Tail Choice
• Muzzle-Talking Function
• Blushing Muzzle
• Tongue In/Out
• Drooling and/or Breathing Particles
• Feminine Lips (Toggleable by HUD)
  • 7 Different Colours of Lips

Build and Skin:

This avatar comes with the same shape and most of the same features, but two separate varieties. One is the Dalmation Skin, while the other is the Doberman Pinscher skin. Both are very different in their own right, but fairly simple, so we’ll provide a short description and pictures of both species. We’ll start with discussion of the Dalmation. The textures on this avatar are, to put it simply a white base with black spots located on almost every part of the shape and the attachments. All of the spots come in different sizes and shapes, which keeps the textures looking variable. Settings that are unique to this colouration of the avatar are that users can choose whether they want a spot on one eye or the other, on both eyes at the same time, or none at all. Additionally, users can choose whether they want spots or none on one or both of the ears. To avoid flatness, there’s a great variety of shading in areas like the chest, buttocks, legs, etc. which provide a soft and gentle white complexion that is neither flat nor hurts the eyes.

The Doberman Pinscher variety of avatar is a good deal more black, with a secondary brown colour. The portions of the body that are black have highlights instead of shading, which again gives them depth and dimension. While a great deal more simple in markings than the Dalmation skin, the Doberman Pinscher breed of this avatar is still competent in reflecting the markings of the real-world dog with fuzzy fur-colour transitions and texture details that bring variety to areas of the body that would probably appear boring. The feature that is only found on this variety of avatar is that instead of choosing what colour ‘spots’ you want over the eyes, you are only colouring the eye-lids themselves. Users can choose from a default black or brown which fits with the avatar’s colour scheme, or opt for eye-shadow textures of blue, pink, purple, etc. for an effeminate appearance.

Of course, it should be mentioned that there are different variations on these two skins; users can have a Doberman with a brown, purple, or even grey base coat, or a dalmation with green, orange, or more spots. There are a number of different available colour combinations.

The feet are typical canine fare; 4 toes with fairly blunt looking, black canine claws. Each of the toes is articulated and well shaped, with the two middle toes larger than the side toes. The undersides of the paws are fairly simple but nicely textured with an easily visible mat of fur giving way to the pawpads. There is, however, a little bit of a vertical gap that separates the underside of the toes from the rest of the paw. While not a big issue, it is a little bit awkward-looking if one views it from the side of the foot. Otherwise, the paw as a whole works well at portraying what it was intended to. The only other criticism that could be afforded is that as the paw is a little bit on the smaller side, it uses invisiprims to cover up the entirety of the foot rather than just the front where it is needed most. Thus, you’ll get a little bit of issues if the avatar stands atop a semi-transparent floor texture.

Users have the decision to choose between plantigrade or digitigrade legs. The plantigrade legs are needed if you are wearing shorts of any kind unless you edit the invisiprim on the foot to not cover up the leg. These are simple and effective at during their job. The digitigrade legs themselves are more visually appealing, arching back from a good point on the footpaw. These legs get thicker as they get closer to the kneecap of the avatar shape, so it makes a good visual transition. Along the back is an array of prim fluff much like what you see on the toes. While not a huge issue, having sculpted invi-prims to hide the shape legs could help in the future, since the currently very large cylinders do look a little odd against a semi-transparent texture. The aforementioned leg and the foot invisiprim issue is shown on the picture to the right. This problem *ONLY* shows up when standing against a semi-transparent texture.

This avatar has opted to not go with any hand-paw attachments, which is perfectly fine. Instead, the creator has painted pawpads on the palm of the shape hands and the tips of the fingers. The undersides of the hands are always a little bit lighter than the rest of the body.

Next is the tail which comes in to different version. One is a static, sculpted version of the tail, and other is the flexible tail. The base of both tails are the same; with some fluff prims at the base of the tail. You can have the tail wag, arch up, midway, or downwards regardless of tail type. In general, however, the sculpted tail has a more organic shape with a smoother looking end; the flexible tail has a squarish tip to it which is ever so slightly off.

Finally we are on to the head. This is clearly the most advanced part of the avatar with the most thought put into it. Compared to the first avatar from Pound Lunt, we have seen a significant change in style and quality. Clearly, this is a cartoony dog with exaggerated features with the aim of creating a cute face. This has been largely achieved through the mix of several features. The final result itself has many different strengths, but also a few weaknesses.

First of all, the eyes are a centerpiece to the avatar due to their size and features. The eyeballs themselves are attached to the eye attachment points under the prim head, so they move depending on where the mouse is pointed. The textures themselves are all pre-fabricated, so users are given a choice of bright and colourful eyes. The available combinations are plentiful and should cover most users’ interests. Both eyes are surrounded by eyelids of which carry options of their own as mentioned above; providing customisation and expression.  The eyeshadow colours options on the Doberman may interest some users more than others, but is a neat option nonetheless. The textures, whether applying new eye-spot combinations (Dalmation) or eye-shadow (Doberman) are well made and mesh with the rest of the face easily.

The other area that truly stands out on the head are the ears. Each ear comes with three states which are interchangeable through the HUD. These are probably the most exaggerated parts of the avatar, with pretty large ears that flop over, or perk high above the head in ways only seen in old, classic cartoons. They add extra ‘cute-factor’ to the face as a whole. Having the choice of ear textures for the Dalmation avatar is an added plus for users wanting more customisation. Those who do not like the large ears can very easily shrink them.

Finally; we have the muzzle. It is when looking at the muzzle that one realise that relative to the head itself, the muzzle is relatively small. This size difference is very forgivable since the avatar is clearly not intended to be ‘realistic,’ but still arises as an observation. In a way, it helps to grant the avatar more ‘cute-ishness.’ Back to the muzzle, however. Despite being small relative to the head, the head contours neatly into the muzzle to create a smooth appearance from any angle that you look at it. Also, the muzzle has an aesthetic shape to it which suits the avatar well.

The tip of the muzzle is topped with a canine nose which gives way to a dividing cleft to the top lip. To the sides of the muzzle are some spots where 3-4 whiskers peek out at the sides. Surprisingly, the mouth follows suit with good construction; a muzzle full of appropriately sized, shaped, and placed teeth. Most of the mouth has simple gradient textures which emulate the cartoon quality of much of the face, even going as far as to include a dark spot on the tongue. However, the roof of the mouth has detailed textures, and to the rear of the mouth is a sculpted opening to the back of the throat.

The features like drool and breath are executed well, but one criticism needs to be lent to an interesting new feature. This avatar obviously comes with feminine lips as is mentioned and seen in some pictures in this review. The idea is pretty neat in and of itself, but the execution was slightly poor. The lips have great available textures, but in design, they appear as if they have been stuck onto the lips of the muzzle after the fact, which produces a so-so visual result. However, much fun can still be had with the female lips by many.

Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):

All of the features are controlled by two different HUDS; the first is formatted like a keyboard to control the ‘functions’ of the avatar while the other has a real-time picture of the head that you modify options on.

Dog Hud:

• Ears: Up/Down/Back Toggle, Twitch Toggle
• Eye State: Open, Tired, Closed
• Tail: Down/Halfway/Up Toggle, Wag Toggle
• Muzzle: Custom Jaw Position, Blush Toggle, Tongue Toggle, Drool Particle Toggle, Cloudy Particle Breath Toggle (panting-like), Lips Toggle

Mr. Recolour HUD

• Individual Eyeball Textures
• Lip Colours
• Eye-Spot Combination (Dalmation Only)
• Ear Type (Dalmation Only)
• Eyeshadow Colour (Doberman Only)

Customisation:

This avatar is Copy-Mod, so it is not difficult to customise it to ones taste. However, the head-size is very circular and slightly on the larger side, so it will take a little effort to get third-party hairs to fit.

Conclusion:

In total, the avatar provides a unique appearance with a lot of potential for facial expressions despite the head size and shape. The textures for both the Dalmations and Doberman varieties capture the essence of their real-world counterparts despite the cartoon nature of this avatar. This avatar has reached its goal of expressiveness and cute while showing off the growing skills and imagination of its creator. It is always neat to continually see new creators push the limits of their creations.