For almost as many years as it has existed, ZBrushCentral has had the Top Row to highlight the very best ZBrush artwork and most interesting ZBrush-related topics. Several years ago, when we transitioned from the VBB to Discourse engine we also added a second row of larger images - the Featured Row. At that time, we started promoting Top Row threads in the Featured Row first, then moved them into the Top Row as newer topics pushed them out of the Featured Row.
We are now changing this approach in ways that are intended to help you stay better informed regarding what is happening in the world of ZBrush, while also providing an exciting new way that your artwork can be promoted. These changes also provide a new way in which the ZBrush team can engage with our treasured community.
Top Row
The Top Row is now changing in terms of what are looking for. It will no longer be enough for a topic to simply show great artwork that used ZBrush. Topics selected for the Top Row will now have to heavily use ZBrush in their creation and/or contain information that is extremely useful to ZBrush artists.
In other words, these topics must truly show off what ZBrush can do! ZBrushCentral was founded on the principle of ZBrush artists exploring ZBrush together. The Top Row embodies that spirit.
To increase the likelihood that your work will be selected for the Top Row honor, here are things that you can do:
- Stay in ZBrush as much as possible.
- Include WIP images and screenshots within ZBrush.
- Include information about why ZBrush was important to you being able to create the artwork.
- Talk about the features that you used, how and why.
- Include mini-tutorials if you’ve come up with an interesting technique.
An important consideration is that If you do use other software, be clear about what portions were done outside of ZBrush, and what software was used for those portions. If we have to guess, it is unlikely that you will be featured.
Those making these selections are a small group of ZBrush team veterans including Aurick, Paul Gaboury and Louie Tucci.
Featured Row
The Featured Row will now highlight topics that are of major interest to the ZBrush community as a whole. This may include announcements of upcoming events, as well as community threads like the MatCap Repository, a great user-created plugin, etc.
In addition, the Featured Row will also be the place for a special new type of feature:
Staff Picks
The ZBrush team is now larger than it has ever been, and all members of the team have been given the opportunity to nominate great artwork posted during the current week that uses ZBrush. Unlike the Top Row, this artwork merely needs to have used ZBrush in its creation.
When a topic is nominated, it will receive a notification at the top of the thread, including the username of the ZBrush team member that made the nomination. That will be a permanent recognition that the topic received special notice.
Once per week, the ZBrush team will then collectively vote on all nominations from the week before. The topic that wins the vote will be added to the Featured Row and will stay there for that full week. The author of the topic will also receive a special ZBC badge for having been elected as a Staff Pick recipient.
Because the nominations can come from any ZBrush staff member, there will typically be a large number of nominated topics each week. And because they are voted on by the entire staff, it will be pretty special to receive this recognition!
The team can potentially choose more than one Staff Pick, but this will be exceptionally rare. When it does happen, all Staff Picks for that week will remain in the Featured Row for the entire week.
Final Thoughts
In the past, when a topic left the Featured Row it was automatically added to the Top Row. That is no longer the case! Because Top Row and Featured Row have totally different criteria and different selection methods, it will be perfectly normal for topics to receive only one of those honors.
This means that it will be extra special when a topic receives both! We’re talking real bragging rights here. 
All Staff Pick winners and Top Row topics can be expected to be highlighted in our social media channels.
Those that do not include content unsuitable for younger viewers will also spend time as part of the ZBrush screensaver.