07.10.07
Here's a list of what's happened, and what's to come:

PAIN is doing incredibly well on the PSN (sorry, can tell any sales numbers yet), and we are currently in beta testing for the amusement park add-on. Expect to see this sometime this Summer.

I've completed a new PAIN gallery, with a collection of my favorite work from my 1 1/2+ years here at Idol Minds.Since it has content from the amusement park, I won't post the gallery until the park is onsale on the PSN. Cause, ya know, I could get in trouble for showing stuff like that :)

Now that things are settled with weddings and moving in to our new place, I've picked up on my personal project codenamed "ff0d". This is based on a piece from my friend at work. I'd say this'll be done realistically within 2 months. I'm very excited to do personal work again, and have high expectations for the end result.

While this isn't official, I'm also hoping for a redesign of the site. My goal is to update, simplify, and make better use of screen real estate. Along with making it more modular so I can easily add new content I want to post. Not going to make any promises, but hey . . .

. . .finally, Nikki and I are officially married and doing well.. Finally relaxing, getting back to normal and getting back to the things we miss most: Exploring our beautiful state, relaxing, and each others company.

That's all for now kids, stay tuned.

10.13.07
PAIN for the PS3 is close to complete, so look for it on the Playstation Network this holiday season. Sadly, my dedication to updating this site, including samples and new tutorials, has suffered greatly with the amount of work we've been doing.

Within the next few months, this website will be undergo another re-design, and will include a massive update with a new PAIN gallery. This will include a plethora of new work for everyone to browse. It seems unlikely, at least while I'm working full time, that any new tutorials will be added. Don't lose all hope, however. You never know what time can be presented to me . . .

Look for the new PAIN gallery soon!

04.08.07
After another long period without updating, I have come again with a new piece:

0A1E (Small|Large)

A bit of info about this: It's a photo/3D composite (eye and pipes taken from The Eye of St. Patrick, photo taken reluctantly of my fiancee infront of 5 lights in the house), and then painted to death in Photoshop. I used the KinoFlo3D rig (mentioned below) to light the scene.

Being so busy at my new job, my personal projects have taken an interesting turn and new focus. I've also taken up a new and revived interest in zBrush, and have been working on old DVD tutorials to get back into the swing of it. My goal is to create pieces similar to this with zBrush. More coming soon!

01.24.07
It's here! Download the KinoFlo3D v1.0 Lighting Rig. I've also posted the first of three tutorials on lighting with the rig. The first tutorial covers the basics and attributes of the rig. The following tutorial should be here this Saturday, demonstrating the process of lighting a simple scene and how the different attributes can be used to yield different results. Check the tutorials section on the right side.

Here's a sample of the first real scene I used these lights for. The modeling credit goes to Christophe Desse, a brilliant 3d modeler.

I have to apologize for the delay in getting this out, but we purchased a puppy in the recent weeks, and he's a handful to say the least. Bare with me on this :)

01.12.07
Happy 2007! Just updating that some new tutorials will be posted tomorrow (for those of you regularly checking in).

11.24.06
After an incredible 2-month silence, some new revelations for you all!

First off, my dedication to this site, and mostly posting new tutorials, has not vanished. I have been developing this new lighting system called 'KinoFlo3D', which combines a real lighting rig in 3D and Final Gather w/ Mental Ray. The results being -- incredible. Now that I have an extended holiday weekend, I plan on releasing this to everyone for testing and also posting a tutorial on how to use this rig.

Secondly, a big change not only in my career, but also in location is about to happen. As of January 3rd, I will be an employee at Idol Minds in Louisville, CO working on a Playstation 3 game. I'll be working on the UI, menus, and hopefully some effects (time willing). This is a big move but I'm really excited about the work and the company. hiTide has been a great step in my career, but it's time to move forward.

And lastly, I'm an engaged man! The timing worked out perfect with my new job -- so Nikki and I will be moving together to Colorado as an engaged couple.

That's it for now. Look for the new KinoFlo rig soon.

09.28.06
The Sampler Info Tutorial has been fixed, so take a look. It's posted as a Quicktime, which was the best alternative to using Flash.

I've also posted a playblast preview of "The Eye of St. Patrick". It can be viewed here. This is my first project which relies heavily on complete automation -- meaning there are no keyframes in the scene at all. Everything relies on a hierarchy of expressions which drive deformers, spline IK systems, and rotations.

09.26.06
There is a problem with the newly posted tutorial which causes the loading screen to hang for a long time before displaying the tutorial. After some investigating, the problem lies within the program I use to capture and create these tutorials (it doesn't like footage that's over 30 minutes). I will probably repost it in some time in a different format like Quicktime. For now, you can just let it load for 5 to 10 minutes and the tutorial will eventually appear. Sorry For the complications.

Also, I'm posting a preview of my new personal project, "The Eye Of St. Patrick" This is just a still and is incomplete, but a fully rendered movie should be coming in about a week.

09.17.06
I've finally created the long-promised Sampler Info tutorial. Enjoy!

09.07.06
I've made some minor updates to the demo reel; nothing too major. New tutorials are coming this weekend, so keep an eye out here. And don't forget to wish me a Happy Birthday tomorrow ;)

08.06.06
Thanks to all the great feedback I've been getting from everyone on the forums at cgsociety.org! You've all inspired me to continue posting new material. I've just added a quick tutorial explaining, Why Are Mental Ray Shaders Always Green? Also coming soon, I'll be posting a detailed tutorial on the mib_glossy_reflection shader. This shader allows you to create anisotropic and distance-limited blurred reflections. Until then . . .

07.19.06
If you happen to be going to Comic-Con 2006 in San Diego this week, check out the Manga Entertainment session on Saturday. We created a 30 second intro piece for their upcoming trailers title.

07.11.06
Just some quick links I want to share with everyone
Recreating Marlon Brando for Superman Returns
X-Men III: Extreme Makeover
Burning Safari

07.06.06
I've posted a new tutorial, "Quickly Creating Realistic Glass". Check it out!

07.04.06
Happy 230th Birthday, America! Just making some quick adjustments to the site: I'm renaming the Ambient Occlusion Tutorial to, "An Introduction to Ambient Occlusion and Baking". I felt it was fair because I realized I spent half of the tutorial talking about how to use the mib_amb_occlusion node, and not just how to bake with it. I've also fixed the samples page, so enjoy!

07.01.06
It's here! After a little time spent, I feel a little closer to getting that "perfect" website. Check out the updated demo reel with a few new clips. Some new samples have also been added, including my college work (eek!) Also, there will now be tutorials provided by yours truly. First tutorial, Baking Ambient Occlusion With Mental Ray. I'll be covering tricks that I've learned over the years in Maya and After Effects

06.11.06
It's been a while since my last update. I've just posted a new demo reel with some new stuff from hiTide. I also have been planning to revamp the layout of my site; so expect that within a week. Part of the problem is that I have so many little things that I've done that aren't really 'reel' worthy, but I can put up under the samples page. Keep checking back . . .

03.25.06
Check out the new and updated demo reel, with 3 new shots added. The job is great so far, and they love my work. Also, I changed my personal email to wkladis@comcast.net

03.14.06
After quite a delay in updating, I now can report that I've taken a position here in Chicago at Hi Tide Media. The job is great so far. I'll try to make a new demo reel once I have some newer pieces to show. Plus I get the thrill of doing work for TV commercials!

02.25.06
I'm currently being offered two positions now; the one in Boston and now a new 3d job here in Chicago. All of this is really unexpected and I have to make a final decision by Tuesday. I visited Boston and it's a very kosher place. The people at Neoscape were nice and they have a great operation. But the possibility of staying here in Chicago also has its appeal. I'll update on Tuesday with my final decision . . .

02.16.06
The problem with the Quicktime version of my demo reel not streaming should now be resolved. Expect to see an updated version of the demo reel by next with with some added compositing work and a new zBrush project I've been working on, a monster hand.

My career at Digital Subterfuge was extremely short lived, and with good reason. The possibility of moving to Boston for compositing work has become very strong. More info soon!

01.25.06
The site is undergoing a huge overhaul. Check out the new demo reel, and main page. More changes still to come . . .

01.02.06
Check out the new UV Pelting examples in the Demo Reel / Samples Section. Also see the updated demo reel, with the new 350Z rendering and more compositing work from StudioNorth.

01.01.06
I'm officially adding news updates. This way you can quickly see if anything new has been added to the site. Happy New Year!