ZBrushCentral

MAXIMIZE Your Exposure - Making the Best ZBC Thumbnails

Get the Most Attention for Your Hard Work!

As you know, whenever you post an image at ZBrushCentral, the site automatically creates a thumbnail from the first image in the post and shows that at the top of the forum. This thumbnail eventually gets bumped off by the work of other artists, but as long as it is up there your thumbnail is the single biggest draw that your thread has! Nothing generates views of your artwork faster than a good thumbnail! This thread will quickly teach you how to maximize your exposure by creating your own thread thumbnail.

Why is this important? Well, consider this example that was recently posted at ZBC:

[attach=151405]viking_girl_small.jpg[/attach]
(Image by Jorge Lescale)

When ZBC creates a thumbnail, it does so using the first image in the post. The way that it does this is by first resizing the image to a width of 110 pixels. It then crops the height of the image to 60 pixels. (If the image is wider than it is tall, it does the reverse. First, it resizes to a height of 60 and then crops to a width of 110.) With a tall image, the result will be this:

[attach=151406]viking_girl_thumb1.jpg[/attach]

As you can see, the result is not likely to be particularly eye catching. Some results are better than others, but it’s almost never going to be something that makes a viewer say, “I’ve GOT to see the rest of this!”

If you want to grab viewer attention and get the best possible exposure for your work – and you are posting your work to have it seen, right? – all you have to do is create your own thumbnail and insert it as the first image in your post. ZBC will use that image, and your art will get noticed!

Here are some tips to help you out:

  1. Your thumbnail should be 110x60 in size.
  2. Choose some part of your image that really looks cool. It might be something that:
  3. [list=1]
  4. Shows off a fine bit of detailing
  5. Teases the viewer by hinting at more
  6. Stands out from the thumbnails already in the bottom row
  • It must be inserted into your post as the [i]first[/i] image, since that position is what ZBC uses to place in the bottom row.
  • [/list]Here are a couple examples, both taken from the image by Jorge:

    [attach=151407]viking_girl_good1.jpg[/attach] :large_orange_diamond: [attach=151408]viking_girl_good2.jpg[/attach]

    Consider how both of these images compare to the one that ZBC created on its own. Which of the three would catch your eye and make you want to view the rest of the image? I’ll bet you it’s one of the two custom thumbs!

    For additional inspiration, take a look at the Featured Gallery of current and past top row icons. We have never used the default ZBC thumbnails for this gallery. All of them have been carefully created to get the most impact and stand out from those surrounding it. They’re all great examples of how to catch the viewer’s eye and get more feedback on your work.

    I hope that this mini-guide helps you out. As you can see, it’s extremely simple to do, and will have terrific returns for the minimal time spent!

    Happy ZBrushing! :slight_smile:

    PS: While you do want to get as much attention as possible, please be courteous to your fellow members. Don’t show nudity in your thumbnail. (This is a family-friendly forum, after all.) If your image has nudity, add that word to your thumbnail so that people won’t get a shock.

    And also, please only ever have one of your thumbnails in the bottom row at a time. If your previous post hasn’t dropped off yet, wait until it has or edit your previous post to include the new image as well. You can easily replace the icon at the start of the post with the one for your new update.

    Thanks!

    Attachments

    viking_girl_small.jpg

    viking_girl_thumb1.jpg

    viking_girl_good1.jpg

    viking_girl_good2.jpg

    Thanks Aurick, good advice.

    I’d also add that if you place the image in your post that’s when it appears in the bottom row, even if you haven’t submitted the post yet but are still editing it, so if you keep on editing your writing for say half and hour all that time your thumbnail is up there but no one can see the post because it hasn’t been submitted.
    In the meantime if other people post their work then their thumbnail moves yours down the line, even if you still haven’t submitted yours and so it can happen that the moment you submit your thumbnail is already halfway out.

    thanks, Aurick, Max…some really good tips…wish I’d run across this thread before I posted my first ZBrush pics a few minutes ago, but good advice to keep in mind for next time. thanks again.

    Good info.

    Is there any way to see more than the last 8 uploaded images? At the rate people are submitting threads, I’d image a thumbnail shows up for what, 5 seconds or so? :slight_smile:

    • Neil

    TNX for Info …:smiley: