Skip to content
From recorded activity to finished video

Add speed, pace and heart rate to your videos

Your camera supplies the picture. The numbers come from the activity your watch, bike computer or phone recorded, or, on a GoPro that records GPS, from the video file itself. Create the gauges in GaugeReel, then put the exported layer over your footage in a video editor.

Download freeFree, ongoing

Windows + macOS · No watermark · No time limit · No GaugeReel account required

Start with a sample speed and heart-rate layout

Download the synthetic activity and Free profile to explore the workflow before using your own recording.

Sample GPX activityFree gauge profileTransparent PNG frame

In GaugeReel, import the GPX, then use My profiles → Import profile to open the downloaded profile. Click “Free speed and heart rate — synthetic sample” in My profiles to apply it, then choose the sample as each gauge’s Source. This invented 12-second activity has no matching footage; use it to explore gauges and exports. Follow the steps below with your own files to align a real clip.

Free speed and heart-rate gauges rendered by GaugeReel using synthetic sample data
Actual GaugeReel renderer · Free speed + heart rate · synthetic sample data. One see-through frame, with no footage.

Get your two files

Start with one short, continuous clip and the activity recorded at the same time.

The video

Copy your GoPro, DJI or phone footage to your computer. For Insta360, reframe and export the view you want first. Keep this first clip at normal speed. A phone video on its own has no GPS data; you need the activity file too. On a GoPro that records GPS (most models since HERO5 Black, not HERO12 Black), the original MP4 from the card already holds speed and route; see the GoPro telemetry overlay page.

The recorded activity

Export the original activity as FIT where possible, or a timestamped GPX. Use the ride, run or walk you actually recorded, not a planned route: a route plan has no times, so it can’t match your video. With a GPS GoPro you only need this file for heart rate, cadence or power.

Garmin

In Garmin Connect on the web, open Activities → All Activities → your activity → settings gear. Choose Export Original / Export File for the device’s original file, usually FIT; unzip it if needed. Garmin’s export instructions.

Wahoo ACE, BOLT 3 and ROAM 3

Enable both USB access and FIT file access in the Wahoo app’s device settings. Connect the powered-on computer with a USB data cable, then copy the completed activity’s FIT from the exports folder. Mac users need an MTP client. Wahoo’s model-specific instructions.

iGPSPORT iGS620

The iGS620 manual describes powering off, connecting by USB and entering connection mode, then copying the FIT activity from iGPSPORT/Activities. Other models may use a different export path. iGPSPORT’s iGS620 manual (PDF).

COROS

In the COROS app or on COROS Training Hub, open the activity, choose Export and pick the .fit format.

Apple Watch (via Strava)

Apple’s Fitness app has no per-workout file export. Sync the workout to Strava, open the activity on strava.com, open the “…” menu and choose Export GPX, or Export Original for the file as it was uploaded. The same menu works for any activity already on Strava.

You export the file yourself; GaugeReel doesn’t log in to these services. The one exception is the optional Basic Strava import, covered in the Strava guide. The file also has to contain the numbers you want to show. For example, heart rate only appears if a heart-rate sensor was recording. If a file doesn’t open, email zoniixyt@gmail.com.

Use the stats your recording contains

Cycling: speed and heart rate

Pair your ride footage with its bike-computer or watch activity. Speed needs recorded speed or usable timestamped GPS positions; heart rate needs recorded HR samples. Power and cadence need those recorded sensor fields too. Start with the available Free speed and heart-rate gauges.

Running: pace, distance and effort

Use a recorded run with usable speed data and select min/km or min/mi for pace. Add distance and heart rate only when available. Check a steady running section and a stop; GPS noise and pauses can make momentary pace jump.

Walking and hiking: show where you are

A moving location display needs timestamped latitude and longitude. Elevation needs usable elevation data. Maps require Basic, $10/month; speed, distance and other available Free gauges can be used without a map. A planned trail alone cannot reproduce your progress through the footage.

Skiing and snowboarding: speed and vertical

A GoPro that recorded GPS gives speed, altitude and vertical speed on its own, all on the Free plan, with no second file to line up. With any other camera, record the day as a ski or snowboard activity on your watch and add its FIT or GPX file. Heart rate always needs the watch file.

Match the numbers to the action

  1. Load your video for reference. In the data panel, choose Add GPX / FIT / GoPro MP4 and open your activity file. Inspect its available-field labels before choosing gauges.
  2. Add the gauges you need and set their units. If you imported more than one recording, select each gauge and check its Source. For example, the heart-rate gauge must use the source that contains HR.
  3. Find a visible event that also appears in the data, such as starting to move after a stop. Adjust that source’s Sync offset until the gauge changes at the same moment. The easy way: play the video, and nudge the offset until the speed starts rising at the same moment you start moving. Example if you prefer numbers: you start moving 5 seconds into the video, but 120 seconds into the watch recording. The watch is 115 seconds ahead, so the offset is −115 seconds.
  4. Check another event near the end. If the first lines up but the second drifts, adjust the data Speed percentage (stretch), then recheck both points. Leave it at Real time / 100% if nothing drifts. You line this up by hand; GaugeReel doesn’t do it automatically.
  5. Position the gauges away from faces and important action. Play the whole short section, checking units, missing values and timing before exporting.

Export a Free chroma-key MP4

This file contains the gauges on a solid background. Your video editor will remove that background.

Choose chroma-key MP4, a green background and a short export range matching your clip. Use 1920 × 1080 at 30 fps for this walkthrough. Avoid green gauge colors so the editor does not remove them with the background. Export and play the file to check that the numbers animate correctly.

Free limits

Transparent PNG sequences or chroma-key MP4 up to 1920 × 1080, landscape or vertical (1080 × 1920 for Reels and Shorts), at up to 30 fps. PNG needs an editor that imports image sequences. Free does not include every gauge, style or activity profile.

When a paid plan helps

Basic ($10/month) adds maps, more styling, transparent ProRes 4444 MOV or WebM, up to 60 fps, and burning the gauges straight into your video. Premium ($20/month) adds higher dimensions up to 8K, keyframe animation and Send to Resolve. Free and Basic share the 1920 × 1080 cap in either orientation. Compare current plans.

Put the layer over your footage in your editor

Pick the editor you already use. Clipchamp, CapCut and DaVinci Resolve are free; Premiere Pro is paid. Each recipe puts your footage on the bottom track and the GaugeReel layer above it.

Clipchamp (free)

  1. Create a project and import your footage plus the GaugeReel chroma-key MP4.
  2. Place the footage on the timeline, then put the overlay on a track above it. Align the start of the overlay with the same clip section you used in GaugeReel.
  3. Select the overlay clip. Open Effects and apply Green screen. Select the matching screen color and adjust the threshold until the background disappears without eating into the gauges.
  4. Preview the beginning and end. Check alignment and gauge edges against both bright and dark parts of the footage, then export the finished video at 1080p.

Clipchamp’s personal editor offers a free green-screen effect and 1080p export. Follow Microsoft’s green-screen instructions; see Clipchamp’s Free feature details. An editor account may be required.

CapCut (free)

  1. Put your footage on the main track, then import the GaugeReel chroma-key MP4 and add it as an overlay on the track above.
  2. Line up the overlay’s start with the same moment you synced in GaugeReel.
  3. Select the overlay, open Remove BG (called Cutout in some versions) and choose Chroma key. Pick the green with the color picker and raise the intensity until the background is gone.
  4. Export the finished video.

DaVinci Resolve (free version)

  1. Put your footage on track V1.
  2. Transparent PNG sequence: import the folder of frames into the Media Pool, where it appears as one clip, and drag it onto V2. The transparency is used as is. If the background shows black, right-click the clip, open Clip Attributes and set the alpha mode.
  3. Chroma-key MP4 instead: put it on V2, open the Fusion page, add a Delta Keyer between MediaIn and MediaOut, and use its eyedropper on the green.
  4. Check the timing at the start and end, then render from the Deliver page.

Adobe Premiere Pro

  1. Put your footage on track V1.
  2. Transparent PNG sequence: choose File → Import, select the first frame, tick Image Sequence and import. Drag the clip to V2; the transparency is used automatically.
  3. Chroma-key MP4 instead: put it on V2, then in the Effects panel open Video Effects → Keying → Ultra Key, drop it on the clip and pick the green with the Key Color eyedropper.
  4. Check the timing at the start and end, then export.

Full editor guides, with frame-rate and transparency fixes: DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and iMovie.

The finished video comes from your editor; on Free, GaugeReel exports the overlay. Basic and Premium can skip this step and burn the gauges into your footage. Premium can also send the overlay straight into DaVinci Resolve.

Common questions

Can I keep exporting for free?
Yes. Free is an ongoing plan, with no watermark or time limit and no GaugeReel account required. It includes transparent PNG sequences and chroma-key MP4 overlays up to 1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels high and 30 fps. Some gauges, styles and profiles require a paid plan.
Will this work without GPS in my camera?
Yes, if your watch, bike computer or phone recorded the same ride. Your camera gives the picture; the FIT or GPX file gives the numbers. If nothing recorded GPS, you can’t show speed from GPS or a map, so leave those gauges out.
Why is heart rate missing?
The file has to contain heart rate, so a heart-rate sensor must have been recording. Check the list of fields for your file and which Source the gauge uses. Some GPX exports leave heart rate out; try the original FIT instead. GaugeReel can’t add heart rate that was never recorded.
What if I stopped filming or have several clips?
Line up each clip on its own, and check the timing again after every gap. Start with one continuous clip. One offset can’t cover a clip where the camera stopped or you cut out pauses, so line up those parts separately.
Can I put swimming stats on video?
Only partly. Gauges can show numbers your watch recorded over time, like heart rate. Pool lengths, stroke counts, intervals and swim pace per 100 m or yd are not supported. An open-water map needs GPS that actually recorded; GaugeReel can’t fill in gaps while your watch was underwater.
Does GaugeReel produce the finished video?
On Free, GaugeReel exports a separate overlay layer: add it above your footage in a video editor, remove the solid background for chroma-key MP4, and export the finished video from the editor. Transparent PNG sequences need an editor with image-sequence support. Basic and Premium can also burn the gauges straight into your footage and export a finished MP4 or ProRes MOV with the original audio, with no editor needed.

Start with one clip and one recording.

Finish a short Free speed or pace overlay first. Add more gauges once the source and timing are right.

Download GaugeReel freeExplore gauges