Yesterday, the Twice Baked Avatars Pitbull made its debut on the Grid. Twice Baked Avatars is a new duo of creators who have an interesting and unique style. In this review, we discuss this first release from this company.

Out of the Box:

Build and Skin:

This avatar comes with two different marking patterns; one that features simple, fuzzy fur transitions between the spots and the white fur, while the other is a fair deal splotchier. The 360 degree photos will show this. The avatar comes in a variety of different colours; 18 to be exact, but with the two different types of skin. Additionally, males and females get fairly different skins. As one would expect, the female skins are shaded to appear a good deal more effeminate with a smooth belly and slightly accentuated breasts. Males are a fair bit more ‘built,’ with abs on the furless portion of the belly.

The sexual dimorphism is clear between both male and female avatars, especially with the degree of which the skin textures differ, as well as the difference between faces for each sex. As a whole, the textures are overly well done, which is a surprise for such a relatively very new creator. They have done well at getting the shading and highlights drawin in the right spots and used in proper amounts to make the skin less flat. About the only criticism that could be afforded to the avatar would be the slightest bit of a line visible just under the midsection. This is not a big issue as many, many creators have had the same problem.

Attachments:

Lower Body:

The feet and digitigrade legs make the more notable attachments of the lower body. The feet are digitigrade in the strictest sense, with the construction of the leg and feet fairly sound in construction, and very proportionate. Their shape also merges neatly with the shape leg and the kneecap almost seamlessly. It should be mentioned that this avatar allows users to unpack an “Extras” folder when they unpack the avatar, which provides the leg attachments without invisible prims, and with alpha clothing layers available. That way, users can get by without the annoying invisiprims if they have a capable viewer.

The underside of the paws are very believable, and feature 4 different textures; pink, black, and 2 different mottled varieties which are a spotted combination of both colours. This same texture is shared with the nose, which helps to up the avatar’s level of customisation. As a whole, the foot-leg combination makes these attachments some of the strongest that we have seen for an avatar, let alone from a new creator.

The other attachment for the bottom half of the body is that of the tail; which comes in both a flexible and a sculpted version. Any regular avatar user would about the merits of each; with the the flexible tail having a more fluidic motion, and the sculpted version being shaped more realistically. Users can have the tail wag back and forth automatically, or have the tail raised or lowered.

Upper Body:

The only attachments on the upper body aside from the head are the hand-attachments. These are a cross between paw and human hand, though the balance seems to be slightly in favour of a more human-like model. While the size of the hands is close enough to the shape arm that there are no wrist transition prims needed, the fingers do look a slightly bit spindly and slightly dangerous looking. Overall, they are well constructed, though the sculpts could have been slightly smoother, and the fingers appearing slightly more relaxed.

Head:

Finally, on to the head. This is the real strength to this avatar, as it seems to have been where a lot of the creators’ focus lies. Right off the bat, the eyes and the nose compete for the focal attention. We’ll start by pointing out the fact that both the male and female heads are different; that is, the male head has a good deal broader muzzle and thicker nose, looking more tough-guy-ish while the female receives a narrower muzzle, smaller nose, and was angled up a bit for petite perkiness. These have both been included in one avatar package, which adds special value for those who want to look more or less effeminate.

That said, the nose remains a pivotal feature of the face; wide, thick, and extremely well sculpted. The four different textures also add an extra amount of detail to the face. Some may or may not appreciate the nose-size, but it all the same, it adds a certain something to the face that makes it look less threatening and more friendly than some real world PitBulls. The saggy muzzle that hangs slightly over the bottom jaw is very well done, keeping the distinct shape of Pit bull muzzles. We give recognition to the well-rendered depiction of Pit Bull jowls.

The interior of the muzzle is directly on par with the muzzle, with teeth and a muzzle interior that matches the design of the face perfectly. The teeth arrangement are well done, and the tongue is sculpted well. Users can choose between having the tongue remain inside the muzzle or hang outside as if the dog were panting. The only criticism would be that when the muzzle is fully open, the bottom jaw looks low and slightly awkward. This is not a major issue, however.

The next area of the head that stands out is the eyes; large and pretty emotive. Users are able to select the eye colour through a customisation palette, and choose from one of four different pupil sizes which range from almost wet-eyed cuteness to small-pupils that we see on some canines. The eye textures are very well done, and the eyes themselves look attentive and directed because of the sharp contrast in the textures. Users are able to choose from four eye states, and raise or lower the eyebrows to customise facial expressions.

Here we arrive at the ears; which follow Pit Bull ear likeness very well, with two sizes of erect ears, and a set of floppy ears. Users can swap between them with the provided HUD. For certain, the ears, combined with the muzzle and the overall face shape are markedly reflective of this particular breed of dog, and form a very strong, non-generic image of the animal. The head-shape itself borders on being feral, but retains just enough human-like features to bring it to a comfortable anthropomorphic medium.

Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):

Users are able to operate and manage the avatar’s features through two HUDs; the Main Control HUD, and the Customisation HUD of which photos are provided. To be sure, the features are extremely self-explanatory. There are no text commands featured with this avatar. A photo of both the HUD Options is as follows:

Customisation:

The head for this avatar does not come with any hairs, but despite the fact that it has a somewhat feral-ish shape, third-party hairs fitted to human heads will fit with minimal adjustment in many cases. Users should have no problem customising this avatar to their interests thanks to the mod/copy permissions. In fact, within less than 3 days after release, there is a Rottweiller modkit available at a third-party location. We may review this modkit in the future.

Conclusion:

For their first avatar, Twice Baked Avatars has offered a less covered canine, adding variety to the husky-dominanted domesticated canine pool. This avatar does a very good job of re-imagining the real world creature for Second Life, while offering just enough features and options to round the avatar out. For their first avatar, this duo of creators seems to have put a concentrated effort to perfect every possible detail and bring them to modern Second Life standards, which only strengthened this avatar further. We look forward to seeing more from this creator in the long run.