MicroDesign Plus

[ComSoft6128]

1993/94?
Raw material 3.
64K Landscape and Portrait formats.
These shapes were created by Amstrad Action type-ins or possibly a PD software program. The Ellipse file reminds me of Eye.Bas (?) which drew an eye (very slowly) that filled the whole of the standard screen and then moved the pupil from left to right - when used with the Videomaster and a large screen TV the effect was quite disconcerting.

[ComSoft6128]

1990/91 (?)

And in the beginning (2)......

The original MicroDesign released in 1988 had no text import function. This was a major program defect.
Text could be added to the MD page by using the "Write" option but this was not a practical solution for anyone wishing to create a large body of text.
The program outlined in the scan below was written by WACCI member J. Harpur and provided the solution to this irritating problem - it was now possible to create large documents, using any of the CPC word-processors, and transfer the text to MicroDesign. A version of the program was later incorporated as one of the options in the MicroDesign Plus file conversion menu.

Info on WACCI is here:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/WACCI

[ComSoft6128]

1992

This is the MicroDesign Plus text conversion menu - the much improved version of the file outlined in the previous post.

[ComSoft6128]

1992 - 1996
MicroDesign Label printing.
Labels could either be printed using the Portrait or Strip formats - Strip format allowed for two high resolution labels to be printed but for convenience/speed (six labels per page) the Portrait format was my preferred choice.  Note that the two last photographs show tractor fed label sheets - these were for dot matrix printers only.  The other photographs show sheets of labels that could be used in dot matrix or ink jet printers. When printing using ink jet printers care had to be taken as the labels were less absorbent than paper and this could lead to smudging. The labels were a standard size and fitted both 3" discs and 3.5" disks.

[ComSoft6128]

1992 - 1995 (?)
Raw Material (4)
Rombo Vidi Mode 2 screens loaded into MicroDesign Plus ready for conversion to MD format (.DR) files. Mode 1 screens could be converted/used but for best resolution Mode 2 was essential.

Gibard2 is by NZ cartoonist Les Gibbard - see earlier in the thread.

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

Girl 1 - Don't remember the source video for this one.

Jason 1 and 2 are the same image grabbed from the 1963 film "Jason and the Argonauts"  and was compulsory Saturday afternoon viewing on BBC2 for what felt like decades. If I remember correctly the screen file from Vidi grabs saved the inks (black or white) in a format which was the reverse of the default MD file so a file inversion option was included prior to saving as a MicroDesign file.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_and_the_Argonauts_(1963_film)

I think that  Laibach 1 and 2  are from a music video by the Slovenian pranksters Laibach , who are known for their use of totalitarian imagery - music videos were a good source of striking/unusual images due to the need of these videos to make a strong impact on the viewer in three or four minutes.

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

Oldtown - I really like this but I don't think its one of mine.

These files are just a sample of the 400 plus CPC 17K screen files (mostly mode 2 but some mode 1) that I have on Romdos D20 disks that I hope to transfer to the PC world in the near future.  When they become available on IMGUR (thanks Gryzor) I will post a link in the Forum so that they will be available to anyone in the CPC community.

[ComSoft6128]

1994
Mode 2 Rombo Vidi screen converted using MicroDesign Plus then loaded into the main MicroDesign program ready for manipulation. This photo shows the Design page - the bottom window which normally displays the current icon set or large font options has been removed (using Ctrl/Shift/Esc) to increase the work area.

Update 9/4/19
A short video showing some simple MicroDesign functions can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5GKEzNZvjQ&t=17s

[ComSoft6128]

This 27 minute video displays 23 files from MicroDesign Plus users. Some interesting pre 1995 designs here.
Not emulated - original hardware and software.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9vDrmpZKi0



 

[ComSoft6128]

This 11 minute video shows various scans (in strip format) from MD Plus users and the Aspects Bulletin Board.
Usually a large hi-res graphic would consist of between 2-4 "strips" which could make up to a full A4 page in size.
Interestingly some of these files do not appear to be hi-res but as I know nothing about the original source
material I can't really comment on them.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEA8TeMYSSE

[ComSoft6128]

Pre 1995 Mode 2 screens captured using the ROMBO Vidi digitiser - the screens are displayed using MicroDesign Plus with one screen near the end of the video converted to MD format and then loaded into the program.
A Mode 1 screen is accidentally loaded at 5:00 which produces a strobe like effect.
Not emulated - original hardware and software.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb2H1kt12HY&t=16s


Links:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/VIDI_digitizer#Pictures


http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/ParaDOS


http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/ROMDOS

[ComSoft6128]

Modifying a ROMBO Vidi TV screen grab using MD+.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZPtC9vtbC8

Links:

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/MicroDesign

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/VIDI_digitizer

Not emulated - original hardware and software
Please note that the aspect ratio for this YouTube video is 16:9 but the CPC monitor has
an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.

[ComSoft6128]

45 PCW MicroDesign 2 files converted to CPC MicroDesign Plus format.

Large Clip-art files downloaded from the Aspects Bulletin Board sometime before 1995.
Some of these are hand drawn, some are scans and one (EASTWOOD.DR) is a digitised image captured using the PCW Rombo Vidi device.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqJHSSDW2bA

Links:

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


http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Aspec...


http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Micro...

Review of the PCW ROMBO Vidi from 8000 Plus magazine

https://archive.org/details/8000-plus-magazine-09/page/n57

Not emulated - original hardware and software
Please note that the aspect ratio for this YouTube is 16:9 but the CPC monitor has
an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.

[ComSoft6128]

1991/92(?) Full A4 page - Spoof newsletter - "The CPC Times"

This MicroDesign file, and others, were available from the WACCI PD library.
Screen captured using the ROMBO Vidi digitiser.

N.B.
"OMG" was the humorous nickname  for Steve "Old Misery Guts" Williams the 2nd WACCI editor.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko5S5_fJM9g

Links:

https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/WACCI

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/VIDI_digitizer#Manual

https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/MicroDesign

Review of the ROMBO Vidi in Amstrad Action and Amstrad Computer User:

https://archive.org/details/amstrad-action-015/page/n23
https://archive.org/details/AmstradComputerUser25-1286/page/n47

Not emulated - original hardware and software
Please note that the aspect ratio for this YouTube video is 16:9 but the CPC monitor
has an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.

[ComSoft6128]

This short (1:55) video shows the speed at which a large graphic file can be moved on the A4 page.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXI7Rmtl1jY

Link:

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php?title=MicroDesign&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile

Not emulated - original hardware and software.
Please note that the aspect ratio for YouTube is 16:9 but the CPC monitor has
an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.

[ComSoft6128]

Microdesign clip-art converted from the PCW and PC.

Various PCW clip-art from Creative Technology (MicroDesign) Ltd, one converted ROMBO Vidi screen grab, one complete A4 MicroDesign Plus page and one example of a converted PC scan. The files are stored in User areas 0 - 3.
Note the use of RUN"DISC (Ctrl + F3) from Protext command mode near the beginning of the video.

Clip-art shown between 0:00 - 15:00
Full A4 design (Deadgods.dr) and Vidi grab 15:30 -21:00
Converted PC file (Falcon.dr - shown at the beginning of this thread) 23:00 to end.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxC4sj1WwrM&t=45s

Links:

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php?title...

https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Gold...

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Rombo...

https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/AMSDOS

Not emulated - original hardware and software.
Please note that the aspect ratio for this YouTube video is 16:9 but the CPC monitor
has an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.

[ComSoft6128]

Building an A4 page in six minutes.

This is the front cover of the 1992 MicroDesign Plus manual.

"Here's one I made earlier"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39vT-8Xzz54&t=15s

Not emulated - original hardware and software.
Please note that the aspect ratio for this YouTube video is 16:9 but the CPC monitor
has an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.