Hasta La Ideas

Autodesk’s Chris Cheung is one of the key people responsible for bringing you SketchBook Pro, which was pretty much a gamechanger for ID sketching. Now, together with Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment manager Shawn Hendriks, he’s providing another new experience for designers: The upcoming CAVE Conference, aimed at “artists, designers and storytellers,” and boasting speakers like Syd Mead, rendering god Scott Robertson, Pixar Art Director Jay Shuster and Monty Python’s John Cleese. Where else are you going to hear people like this speaking at the same event?

We caught up with Chris for a little background on who he is, what he does, and on what you’ll find at the CAVE, which is scheduled on the front end of this year’s Autodesk University (held every December in Las Vegas).

Core77: What is your work background?
Chris Cheung: I graduated with a degree in Industrial Design and this is how I originally got into software. After graduating, I was really interested in 3D modeling and visualization, so I invested in taking courses to learn Alias. That was a huge pivot in my career that lead me to taking a job with Alias. It was crazy because suddenly I was working in cutting-edge high tech creating design solutions for product, automotive and entertainment professionals. This was actually my first practical experience where it became apparent how significant the overlap is across creative domains, in respect to creativity, technically and emotionally.

What’s your official title at Autodesk?
I’m a Product Line Manager, so I am responsible for driving product initiatives for SketchBook Pro and other projects related to digital art tools.

And what are some of the things that you do for your job that aren’t obvious from the title?
It’s actually a pretty good title, meaning, since I am managing a piece of the business, I can get my grubby little fingers on many aspects of our products. I like to think of a ‘product’ in a broad sense, so I tend to think a lot about tangential aspects to users’ experiences or even things that drive their perception. In this manner, things like communities, collaborating on adjacent projects, and events become important extensions for me.

What was your involvement with SketchBook Pro?
Even though I’ve only been the actual Product Manager for SketchBook for the last 5 years, I have a deeper history with the drawing tech that pre-dated the introduction of SketchBook in 2000 with the first introduction of the tablet PC. The original technology was created years before and only worked on IRIX workstations. Drawing and sketching digitally has always been an important component, so it was among the things I worked on in tandem with 3D tools. Back in the day, it was a big deal to get a stroke to draw fast enough so that it gave an authentic experience to a traditional designer. It is kind of funny now, especially after getting that same engine working on the iPhone and Android smartphones in 2009. I feel pretty lucky to have been part of these evolutionary milestones in the technology of an activity that I’ve always loved since being a kid: DRAWING!

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