Video Sampler for Fingersonic Beats — Play Video Clips With Your Drum

October 25, 2026 Eldon Chan

Video Sampler for Fingersonic Beats turns your Fingersonic Beats drum pads into a video instrument. Load a local video clip onto each of the ten pads, trim the exact segment you want, and trigger picture and sound together with MIDI — straight into Logic Pro.

Version 0.4.6 (build 16) · macOS 13.0 or later · Apple Silicon and Intel · Free download

⬇ Download Video Sampler for macOS

🔗 View the source code on GitHub

Version 0.4.6 (build 16) · About 4.9 MB · macOS 13.0+ · Includes offline installation guide

What Is the Video Sampler for Fingersonic Beats?

This is a free macOS AUv3 audio instrument built specifically around the ten-pad layout of the Fingersonic Beats drum pad controller. Instead of triggering drum hits, each pad plays a video clip — and the clip's own audio track is sent directly into your DAW as a playable instrument voice.

Think of it as a video-sampling pad controller for beat makers: load your own clips (a cymbal crash, a snare sound, a synth stab, a vocal chop, a crowd noise, a movie line), set the start and end points, map the pads to MIDI notes, and play them like any other instrument. The video plays live in the plug-in window while the audio lands on your software instrument track, ready to record, bounce, or mix.

Key Features

Ten independent video pads — each pad holds its own video file, its own clip range, and its own MIDI note.
Up to 16 simultaneous voices — layer multiple clips at once for dense, cinematic arrangements.
Per-pad trimming with frame preview — drag the Start and End sliders and the exact video frame is shown. A new clip loads its first two seconds by default.
MIDI Note triggering with velocity response — harder hits play louder, just like a real pad.
MIDI Learn — hit a pad to assign it, or type a note number from 0 to 127.
Live multiview video playback — retriggering a pad restarts that pad's picture.
Direct-to-DAW audio — decoded audio returns through the host's instrument track, so it records and bounces like a real instrument.
Project-saved settings — pad assignments, clip ranges, MIDI notes, output gain, and file-access bookmarks are stored with your Logic project.
Automatable output gain — automate the Output parameter for build-ups and drops.

System Requirements

macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
Universal binary — runs on Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x86_64) Macs
Logic Pro is the primary tested host
No Xcode, no ffmpeg, and no command line required — just unzip and drag
Local video files with audio tracks macOS can decode (MP4/MOV with H.264 video and AAC audio is the practical starting point)

Please note: this is an AUv3 plug-in. There is no AUv2 .component, VST3, AAX, Windows, or iOS build. Other AUv3 instrument hosts have not been individually verified, and a full audio unit validation run is included in the download if you want to check it yourself.

How to Install the Video Sampler (macOS)

Step 1: Download and unzip

Download VideoSampler-0.4.6-AUv3-macOS.zip and extract it. You should see a folder containing Video Sampler.app plus the installation guide.

Step 2: Install the app

Quit Logic Pro and any other audio hosts first. Then drag the complete Video Sampler.app into your Applications folder. Do not extract the .appex file and do not move anything into /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components — the app is the AUv3 container, and the plug-in inside it must stay in place.

Step 3: Approve the first launch

This build is ad-hoc signed and is not notarized by Apple, so macOS may show an "unidentified developer" or "Apple could not verify" warning on first launch:

Try opening Video Sampler.app from Applications.
If macOS blocks it, dismiss the warning (do not delete the app).
Go to Apple menu → System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to Security.
Find the warning for Video Sampler and click Open Anyway.
Authenticate if prompted, then confirm Open.

No system-wide security changes and no SIP changes are needed. If the audio unit extension is blocked separately during scanning, quit Logic, approve the extension on the same settings page, and reopen Logic.

Step 4: Load it in Logic Pro

Create a new project and add a Software Instrument track.
In the channel strip's Instrument slot, choose AU Instruments → Fingersonic → Video Sampler → Stereo.
Open the plug-in editor to see the video display, the hardware-style pads, and the PAD EDITOR.

Use the Instrument slot only — this instrument does not appear in the Audio FX or MIDI FX menus.

How to Use the Video Sampler

Load and trim a video clip

Click an empty pad, or select a pad and click Choose Video. Pick a local file that contains an audio track. Newly loaded clips start with the first two seconds, or the full duration if it is shorter. Under PAD EDITOR → CLIP, adjust Start and End to the exact segment you want. Dragging a slider previews the corresponding video frame; releasing it reloads the clip audio, so let that finish before you trigger the pad. Hit Preview (or click the loaded pad again) to audition it.

Map the pads to MIDI

Connect your Fingersonic Beats over its supported MIDI connection and confirm Logic receives the input. Hardware input is managed by Logic, so the plug-in has no separate device selector — you can also use any other MIDI controller, or draw the notes in Logic's Piano Roll.

To assign a pad: select the pad, click MIDI Learn (the button changes to Play a MIDI note…), hit the hardware pad or send the note, then hit it again to test. The first hit assigns the note and may not trigger the new mapping. You can also use the Note stepper to type a number from 0 to 127.

Default note mapping

Pad	MIDI note	Pad	MIDI note
OPEN HAT	46	TOM 1	48
CRASH	49	KICK	36
CLOSED HAT	42	TOM 2	45
SNARE	38	RIDE	53
FLOOR TOM	43	CRASH 2	57

Use note numbers rather than octave labels, because different programs may call the same note C1 or C2. If your hardware preset uses different numbers, just re-map with MIDI Learn.

Record and export

Select the software instrument track, enable the required MIDI input, and press Record in Logic. This records the MIDI — the plug-in generates the audio during playback. For audio export, use Bounce or Bounce in Place; an offline bounce renders the audio without playing the video. To record the audio directly, route the instrument to a Bus, create an audio track with that Bus as its input, and record it there.

Creative Ideas: What Can You Sampler?

Cinematic impacts — layer trailer hits and risers on separate pads and build your own drop.
Found footage drums — a door slam becomes a kick, a car door becomes a snare.
Vocal chops — cut a spoken phrase into eight pads and play it like a percussion instrument.
Sample flipping — trim the same video to eight different micro-slices for that pitched, chopped sound.
Visual performance — keep the plug-in window open on stage and let the audience trigger the visuals with your pads.
Field recordings — thunder, rain, footsteps, and traffic make unusual but usable one-shots.

Tips for the Best Results

Keep clips short. Decoded audio is preloaded into memory, so long or high-resolution clips increase memory and playback load.
Use H.264 + AAC in MP4 or MOV. Renaming a file extension does not convert its encoding.
Save your Logic project after setting up the pads. Settings that were never saved cannot be recovered from an older project.
Keep the original video files available. They are referenced locally and are not copied into the Logic project. Transfer them separately when moving a project to another Mac, and re-select any file whose access was lost.
Re-triggering restarts the picture. That makes it easy to sync a visual stutter with a hi-hat pattern.

Troubleshooting

Video Sampler is missing in Logic

Confirm the complete app is in /Applications and that the first-launch approval is done.
Check the Instrument slot on a Software Instrument track.
Quit and reopen Logic; restart the Mac if needed.
In Logic Pro → Settings → Plug-in Manager, search for "Fingersonic" or "Video Sampler" and make sure it is enabled. If it is listed but validation failed, choose Reset & Rescan Selection.

If the extension is still not discovered, quit the host and register it from Terminal, then reopen Logic:

pluginkit -a "/Applications/Video Sampler.app/Contents/PlugIns/VideoSamplerAU.appex"

You can also validate the registered audio unit with auval -v aumu vsmr FgSn. These are troubleshooting steps, not part of a normal installation — leave the extension inside the app and leave unrelated plug-in files alone.

I get a picture but no sound

Check that the source video has a decodable audio track, that loading has finished, that OUTPUT is above zero, that the Logic track is not muted, and that Logic is using the intended output device. Press Preview first — if Preview works, the problem is with MIDI input or note mapping, not playback.

Preview works but my hardware does not trigger a pad

Confirm Logic is receiving MIDI from the device and that the correct instrument track is selected. Check the note number, or repeat the MIDI Learn step.

A file will not load, or media is missing after reopening a project

Make the video available locally, reconnect its drive if needed, and use Choose Video / Replace Video to select it again. Convert it to MP4/MOV with an AAC audio track if needed.

The container app is not a standalone sampler

This is expected. The container installs the AUv3 extension and shows setup instructions. The sampler editor runs inside your host's Video Sampler plug-in window.

How to Uninstall

Quit your audio hosts, then move /Applications/Video Sampler.app to the Trash. Reopen the host, or restart the Mac if the plug-in list has not refreshed. Keep your Logic project and original video files separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Video Sampler for Fingersonic Beats free?

Yes. The app is a free download, and the full source code is published on GitHub so you can review exactly what it does and build it yourself if you have Xcode.

Does it work on Windows?

No. This release is macOS-only, and it is an AUv3 plug-in specifically. There is no AUv2, VST3, AAX, Windows, or iOS package included.

Which DAW should I use it with?

Logic Pro is the primary tested host, and it is what the Open Logic Pro button is built around (it also discovers Logic Pro Creator Studio). Other AUv3 instrument hosts have not been individually verified.

Do my video files get uploaded to the cloud?

No. Your videos stay on your Mac. The plug-in stores file-access bookmarks with the project, and the original media is never copied anywhere. This also means you must keep the files available and transfer them separately if you move a project.

Can I export a video of my performance?

The plug-in does not export a combined video file. A bounce exports the audio only. To capture the on-screen video layout, use a separate screen-recording workflow such as macOS QuickTime or OBS.

How many clips can I trigger at once?

Up to 16 simultaneous audio voices, across the ten pads. Each pad keeps its own file and trim range, and retriggering a pad restarts its picture.

Why does macOS say the app is from an unidentified developer?

Because this is a test distribution with ad-hoc code signing and no Apple Developer ID signature or notarization. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway after confirming you downloaded the file from this page. Apple has no system-wide security or SIP changes involved in this step.

Download Video Sampler for Fingersonic Beats