Turn a GPX Track into a Travel Map Video

A GPX file contains locations from a recording or planned route. Save the route as GPX in the app or service that holds it, and have the .gpx file available in Files on your iPhone before opening the TrailVid beta. Several files can describe one trip.

1. Add the GPX files

   Open the trip you want to extend, or use New trip in the trip library for a separate film. In Trip, choose Add a GPX route. Open Add if its choices are hidden. Tap Add GPX files, select the recordings, and check the list for any file that could not be read.

2. Scan the route

   Tap Scan. TrailVid reads the files you added and proposes places from their locations, recording start and end points, waypoints, and any available times.

3. Review the places and lines

   Review addition shows the trip that would result. Open Adjust included section to inspect the detected places. Use Remove places for recording boundaries that do not mark a visit, then Review result to check the included stops and their connections. Inspect which lines are recorded. Tap Add to trip when the result is right.

4. Check the route and choose a look

   In the trip builder, check the stop order and tap the transport rows to correct how you travelled. Changing transport keeps any recorded line between those places. To change the appearance of the map and lettering, open Style, then Theme. In Scene, select Journey under Direction to have the camera follow the route.

5. Preview and export

   Press Play and watch the path as well as the arrivals. Open Export video, choose Aspect ratio, Resolution, and Framerate, then tap Start export. Review the finished result and tap Save to Photos or Share….

The finished map video is silent and carries the TrailVid badge. Add footage and sound in your video editor. If the map needs to fit a vertical post, choose 9:16 and check the framing before the final export.

Check whether the file includes times as well as locations. A recording can reveal long stays and likely movement; a planned route may contain the line without reliable visit times. Those differences affect which dates and stops you can use in the film.

• Places answer where the story pauses.
• Recorded lines answer how the journey moved.
• Timestamps provide evidence for dates and stays.
• Gaps reveal where the file cannot describe one continuous route.

We made a sample GPX file for this guide, with pauses and gaps around Frankfurt and Heidelberg. Open Adjust included section to inspect the evidence behind its places. A long pause can identify a visit worth showing, but use what happened on the trip to decide whether it deserves an arrival.

The recording also has boundaries near Florstadt, Babenhausen and Heidelberg. A recording stopping and starting again does not necessarily mean you visited a new place. Use Remove places for an unwanted arrival. Left out lets you inspect and restore excluded candidates before returning to Review result.

Keep the final Heidelberg point when the recorded walk closes the story. Leave it out when the main Heidelberg stay already provides the ending. Check the resulting connection after either choice.

1. Stayed about…

   Ask what happened during that time. An overnight stay, hike, visit, or reunion can earn a scene. A parked phone may only establish a boundary.

2. Recording start/end

   The file begins or ends there. Keep the place only when that boundary matches a real departure, arrival, or change of chapter.

3. Waypoint from your file

   A named marker may identify a summit or campsite. It can also be a utility point such as a junction or fuel stop. Decide from the trip, not the label alone.

The sample has gaps between the drive out of Frankfurt and the main Heidelberg stay. TrailVid does not stretch that recording fragment across the missing distance. Inspect the proposed connection and confirm its transport mode before accepting the result.

The final Heidelberg leg follows a continuous recorded walking section. The finished route can retain that line. The transport mode is still a suggestion. Check it against what happened, then correct it in Stops after adding the route.

• Can I name what happened at this place?
• Did a stay, waypoint, or recording boundary create the row?
• Do nearby rows describe the same moment?
• Does the final recorded point make a useful opening or ending?
• After an exclusion, does the next line still say recorded?
• Does the suggested transport match what actually happened?

Tap Add to trip after checking the included stops and their connecting lines. The result remains editable in Stops, Journey and Dates. Open Organize, then Imported photos & routes to inspect the retained recordings. This workflow does not repair or export a cleaned GPX file.

This finished example keeps Frankfurt, the main Heidelberg stay, and the final Heidelberg point. Watch the computed drive arrive in Heidelberg, then the recorded walking line carry the journey to its last stop. The places and walking line come from the sample GPX file reviewed above.