MicroDesign Plus

[ComSoft6128]

1991.
"Happy" Halloween............and here is a little macabre MD Memento Mori for this All Hallows Eve.
The skull graphic (Previously seen in the "AGE30" design) is a Rombo Vidi mode 2 grab from a music video but at the moment I'll be damned (ouch!) if I can remember which one - The Shamen, Front 242?  Maybe.
64K Portrait format, printed using the Star LC-10 9-pin printer.

LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanitas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

[ComSoft6128]

1991.
The Osprey graphic is a converted mode 2 loading screen from a CPC personal finance program. Unfortunately I can't remember which - Money Manager, Home Finance? There was an Amsoft Osprey educational program but I'm sure it doesn't come from that. Any ideas?

[ComSoft6128]

1992.
First review of the enhanced MicroDesign Plus, in the last issue of Amstrad Computer User. Though positive it reads a little like a press release.

Page 1.

[ComSoft6128]

Page 2.

[ComSoft6128]

Advert in same issue.

[ComSoft6128]

1985.
And in the beginning...

Thanks to Zeropolis, Micro-Draft, the precursor to MicroDesign, has now been found but as yet I have no information if Amsoft or some other company released it.
After the release of MicroDesign by Siren Software, Simon Hargreaves and Nik Holmes went on to form Creative Technology (MicroDesign) Ltd. Amongst many other programs they released MicroDesign 2 and MicroDesign 3 for the PCW.  Also released was MD2 for the PC

[ComSoft6128]

1988.

Better than the 16-Bits?
Read the extract below and see what you think.

For anyone wondering how the CPC and MicroDesign could produce such HQ printed output, the extract (grey box) from an article on Deluxe Paint 2, is essential reading.
The original article is from issue 12 of the Advanced Computer Entertainment magazine and was written by Brian Larkman, Contributing Editor at Future Publishing.

[ComSoft6128]

1989.
This is the pixel scale file from the original release of MD by Siren Software. It was used to position graphic files accurately on the MD page. Printed using the DMP 2160 set for draft quality.

[ComSoft6128]

1992/93?

Unfinished design using mode 2 Vidi screen. Knowing me, the speech bubble was probably for something crude, vulgar and puerile

[ComSoft6128]

1995
And speaking of the crude, vulgar and puerile - most of this page contains converted mode 2 screens, printed at 1/4 scale, of some of the infamous characters from the "Viz" comic founded in 1979 and still being published on a monthly basis.
These Vidi grabs come from the TV cartoon versions from 1994.
Due to the small size of these images it would be best to download the jpg and use Window Photo Viewer.

[Gryzor]

Can I ask you a favor? These are lovely and interesting for the most part, but 3.6MB for a 2-bit image is a bit too much... For instance, just saving it to gif saved 1,7MB and of course I don't think it really needs to be at such a size.


Thanks!

[ComSoft6128]

Of course. I have already been looking at reducing file size but haven't worked my way thru all the "modern" filetypes yet. The PNG copy of this file came in at 6.89MB, the TIF was 10.8MB

[Gryzor]

Yes, PNG doesn't result int a reduced image size - tried that too. But gif is perfectly nice for a black-and-white image, and of course it could do with a resize...


Thanks

[ComSoft6128]

This is page 5 of the MicroDesign Plus manual.

There is something interesting in the MicroDesign Page Dimensions table.

Hint:
Strip format measures 7 inches (17.78 cm) horizontally X 2 inches (5.08 cm) vertically on the physical CPC screen.

Any ideas?

[ComSoft6128]

A question:

If both Stop Press (518016 pixels) and MicroDesign (522240 pixels) full A4 pages are Mode 2 -  what Mode is the 1/4 A4 page MD strip format at 491520 pixels?

The middle window in the screen below is strip format - 1920 pixels in width x 256 in height - 4 of these make up one full A4 page.

[ComSoft6128]

UPDATE:

I seem to be losing pixels somewhere - now having counted the number of pixels in strip format I come to the figure of 1912 pixels in width as opposed to the 1920 quoted in the manual. Mmm.
Even so, this appears to be a much higher resolution than Mode 2.
Possibly the highest resolution ever seen on the CPC.

I'm not sure how this was possible, does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on this?