ActionLay adds telemetry dashboards to action-camera videos. Display speed, altitude, maps, heart rate and power; design your own layout and export the result or a separate overlay for your video editor. Free and open source.
| System | Download | Install |
|---|---|---|
| macOS 12+, Apple Silicon and Intel | Universal DMG | Open the DMG and drag ActionLay to Applications |
| Windows 10/11, 64-bit | Windows installer | Choose installation for yourself or everyone; desktop shortcut optional |
| Linux, 64-bit | Package repositories and setup instructions | Add the APT or DNF repository, then install actionlay |
The latest release also includes standalone Windows/Linux builds, individual DEB/RPM packages, the telemetry CLI and checksums. No GitHub account is required.
FFmpeg is included. Linux builds target Ubuntu 22.04 or newer and require ALSA,
VA-API and a graphics backend compatible with wgpu. SHA256SUMS is available in each release.
The builds are not signed by an identified publisher or Apple-notarized. On macOS, if opening is blocked, allow ActionLay in System Settings → Privacy & Security, then open it again. Windows may show SmartScreen's unknown-publisher prompt; choose More info → Run anyway if you want to run the downloaded build.
For upcoming changes, use the development release,
updated after successful builds of main. It may contain unfinished changes.
Stable desktop builds check for newer stable releases at startup and offer Yes, Not now, Skip this version, or Don't ask again. Restore either persistent choice under Settings → Advanced → Automatic updates. Downloads show progress and are checked against the release asset's SHA-256 digest before installation; ActionLay restarts when the update finishes. Save edited layouts and finish exports before updating. Development builds never check for updates.
Windows installations keep their current directory and per-user/all-user mode (with UAC for all-user updates). Portable Windows copies replace just their executable. macOS replaces the running app bundle at its actual location, including custom names and directories; standalone executables replace only themselves. Linux portable copies replace their executable, while DEB/RPM installations use system updates and disable the built-in updater. Portable replacements need a writable executable directory. Failed downloads leave the current installation intact; installation errors are reported when ActionLay next starts.
The Windows installer supports per-user or all-user installation, upgrades, and uninstall from Windows Apps. Linux packages are available for APT (Ubuntu/Mint/Debian) and DNF (Fedora-compatible systems).
Open With supports .mp4, .mov, .lrv and .insv without changing your
default player. On macOS, the bundle declares these formats automatically and
the DMG shows where to drag the app. Windows installers and Linux packages
register them during installation. Portable Windows/Linux copies offer
Settings → File associations… for per-user registration and removal;
Windows also offers it at startup, with a Don't ask again option.
ActionLay detects installer/package registrations and does not offer a duplicate
registration. Keep portable copies in a permanent location; launching a registered
copy after moving it updates its path. Linux desktop menus may need a new login
if the MIME/desktop database update tools are unavailable.
Open ActionLay in your browser — no installation required. Open a video from your device, view its telemetry, edit layouts and export the result. Video processing stays on your device. Preferences and recent layouts are kept in browser localStorage; layouts can also be imported and downloaded as files. Videos must be selected again after reloading.
The web version has these limits:
- Playback and H.264/H.265 MP4 export depend on the browser's codec and WebCodecs support. Video exports retain supported source AAC audio. Quality presets, advanced encoding controls, ProRes, transparent overlays and PNG sequences require desktop.
- Telemetry comes from embedded GoPro GPMF or linked GPX/FIT/INSGPS activities. Other embedded camera telemetry and joined chapter timelines require desktop. The web layout editor previews demonstration telemetry.
- Where direct file saving is unavailable, export uses an in-memory download limited to 256 MB. Browser storage quotas can limit saved recent layouts.
- Map providers must allow browser requests through CORS; the browser map cache is temporary and does not provide the desktop's persistent offline cache.
See browser capabilities and limitations for details. The hosted web app follows stable releases; development builds do not replace it.
- View telemetry while watching footage. GoPro GPS, speed, altitude, acceleration, orientation and more appear in gauges, charts, maps and a G-meter. Missing data is shown as unavailable.
- Use GPX/FIT/INSGPS activities from a bike computer, watch or Insta360 phone app. Select one file, several files or a folder. Matching timestamps identify candidates; ambiguous matches require a choice. Single files can fall back to aligning starts, with an adjustable offset. Supported DJI/Insta360 videos can also supply native camera telemetry; coverage depends on the camera and firmware.
- Rotate footage on desktop. Automatic respects video orientation metadata; manual 0°, clockwise 90°, 180° and counterclockwise 90° choices apply to preview and export.
- Watch in full screen. Press F11 to enter; controls and the pointer hide after 3 seconds and reappear when you move the mouse. Escape exits. Window position, size and maximized state are remembered.
- Play GoPro chapter sequences on one timeline without concatenating files. Open the first chapter to load the sequence. Opening an intermediate chapter offers the choice of loading the whole recording.
- Build a dashboard visually. Start from the included Default, Moto, Training
or imported dashboards. Move, resize and style widgets; select multiple layers,
snap, group and undo changes. Copy entire sections between layouts, lock the
selection, or hold Shift while resizing a container to scale its children too.
Share
.actionlay-layoutpackages with assets and fonts, or import layouts from gopro-dashboard-overlay XML. - Customize maps. Choose north-up or direction-up, no route, the completed route or the whole route, with separate colours and adjustable line/marker sizes. Select providers and offline mode under Settings → Maps….
- Export video or overlays. Choose H.264/H.265 MP4, transparent ProRes 4444 MOV, PNG sequences, or an overlay on a solid colour for chroma keying.
Open or drag a video into ActionLay. Choose File → Select Layout… to switch dashboards, or open the visual editor to create your own. The editor also works without a video. Drag a GPX/FIT/INSGPS file or activity folder onto an open video, or use Metric sources… in the toolbar or File menu to link activities and adjust alignment. In the browser, use the Metric sources toolbar button or expand that section for file/folder selection and alignment controls. See linked activities and video orientation for matching rules, offset examples, the INSGPS representation and verification. These source and orientation controls are available in ActionLay 1.4.2.
Widgets that need historical telemetry show their own loading indicator and percentage until the required data is available, including after seeking. These indicators only appear in the interface. Export completes full-source metadata preparation before rendering if a widget requires it; widgets that need only past data recover it as export advances.
Use Settings → Privacy zones… to hide private locations and crossing route segments on maps. Repeated starts and finishes can reveal a home address even without a “home” label. These zones affect map overlays; they do not redact the video or coordinates shown by other widgets.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘O / Ctrl+O | Open video |
| ⌘⇧O / Ctrl+Shift+O | Select layout |
| ⌘W / Ctrl+W | Close video |
| Space | Play / pause |
| F11 or double-click the video | Toggle full screen (player only) |
| Esc | Leave full screen |
| → / ← | Next / previous frame |
| O | Show / hide the overlay |
In full screen, move the mouse to show playback controls; they and the pointer hide after three seconds of inactivity. Full screen is unavailable in the layout editor. The app remembers the normal window position and size, and whether it was maximized.
The diagnostic line beneath the player is hidden by default. Enable Settings → Interface → Show diagnostic data to see decoder, frame and A/V statistics.
Settings → Interface also offers a searchable selector for 34 languages. System default follows the system language; unsupported languages use English. Settings → Regional settings controls measurement units separately. Layouts and widgets use Default to inherit their units; explicit units override this. Data widgets retain their last valid value during short telemetry gaps, with a configurable tolerance of three seconds in included layouts. Network buffering keeps the last displayed telemetry until metadata for the frame is available. Included layouts show the entire route, centered and fitted to 80% of the map. The map widget supports fixed zoom or fitting the complete route. While loading, preview uses fixed zoom; export loads the full route before rendering any frame.
Settings → Advanced configures read-ahead, the buffer required before playback, and memory for compressed packets. Read-ahead starts even while paused; changes apply immediately. Defaults are 3 seconds ahead, 2 seconds before playback and 32 MiB.
Choose Export… in the toolbar or File → Export Video…. Select the mode, time range and a new destination. The initial mode is Video with overlay; subsequent exports remember your settings. Choose Balanced, High quality or Fast export. Balanced preserves supported source codec/container, resolution and bitrate while re-encoding the overlay; Advanced exposes individual encoding controls and a resolution override. Transparent overlays use ProRes 4444 or PNG; solid overlays let you choose a background colour, green by default. Existing destinations are not overwritten. Cancellation keeps completed frames in a playable partial output.
Export currently processes one source file with embedded GoPro telemetry and any linked GPX/FIT/INSGPS activity. Other embedded native-camera telemetry and joined chapter timelines are not included yet. Export uses eight-bit SDR decoding. Insta360 playback displays the raw camera stream, without 360 stitching or reframing.
The download includes actionlay-telemetry for inspecting telemetry or dumping
CSV/JSON. On macOS, both tools are in ActionLay.app/Contents/MacOS/.
actionlay GX010123.MP4
actionlay-telemetry info GX010123.MP4
actionlay-telemetry dump GX010123.MP4
actionlay export --out ride.mp4 --start 5 --end 20 GX010123.MP4
actionlay export --mode transparent --out overlay.mov GX010123.MP4Use actionlay-telemetry --help or actionlay export --help for options.
See the developer and contributor guide for desktop and web setup, build commands, architecture, development workflow, tests, diagnostics and contribution guidance. It explains the shared Rust layers and the native and browser backends, including how to check changes across both.
For platform coverage and hosting details, see the browser guide. Maintainers can find versioning, installers and deployment instructions in the release guide.
Inspired by gopro-dashboard-overlay and Gyroflow. See all credits. While I was developing ActionLay and thinking about an icon, a wild gecko entered my office. I took this photograph, and the unexpected visitor became the inspiration for the logo.
ActionLay's code is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later. The original gecko
photograph and logo/icon artwork are available under CC BY-SA 4.0
or GPL-3.0-or-later, at your option; see the artwork licence and attribution.
The binaries include GPL-enabled FFmpeg,
x264 and x265. Source revisions and build scripts are included in the repository;
licence notices and source links accompany the downloads. Each release also
includes the exact FFmpeg/x264/x265 sources in third-party-sources-1.4.2.tar.gz.
ActionLay is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or supported by any of the brands, companies or organizations mentioned in this repository. All trademarks and product names belong to their respective owners and are used solely for identification and reference.
ActionLay is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or supported by the gecko, either. Its visit was unsolicited.