Video Export | Carrier Wave Manual

Video Export generates animated videos of your logging sessions, showing QSOs plotted on a map over time with toast-style notifications for each contact.

Overview

Video export creates a shareable video that replays your session chronologically:

Map animation showing QSO arcs appearing as contacts were made
Toast notifications for each QSO with callsign, RST, and park reference
Timeline progress bar showing position within the session
Statistics overlay with running QSO count and rate

Rendering Modes

Real-Time Mode

Plays back the session at actual speed (1 second of video = 1 second of real time):

Best for: Short sessions (under 30 minutes)
Duration: Matches your actual session length
Gaps compressed - Periods of inactivity (>2 minutes) are compressed to 2-second transitions
Band changes shown as smooth frequency transitions

Highlight Mode

Condenses the session into a fixed-duration video:

Best for: Long sessions or activations spanning hours
Duration: 30-60 seconds (configurable)
QSO pacing - Each QSO gets equal screen time
Key moments - Band changes, milestones (10th QSO, P2P), and equipment changes are highlighted
Statistics card at the end summarizing the session

Map Animation

QSO Arcs

As each QSO appears in the timeline:

An arc draws from your station to the contacted station’s location
A marker appears at the contact’s location
The arc fades to a lower opacity after a few seconds
Previous arcs remain visible as a faded trail

Map Styles

Choose from several map styles for the video background:

Standard - Apple Maps standard style
Satellite - Satellite imagery
Dark - Dark-themed map (good for social media)
Muted - Subtle gray tones to emphasize QSO arcs

Map Zoom

The map automatically zooms to fit:

Initially zoomed to show your station location
Progressively zooms out as contacts reach further distances
Smooth transitions between zoom levels

Toast Notifications

Each QSO triggers a toast notification overlay:

Callsign prominently displayed
RST sent and received
Band and mode
Park reference (for POTA contacts)
Distance from your station
Country flag for DX contacts

Toasts appear from the bottom of the screen and auto-dismiss after 2 seconds (real-time mode) or based on pacing (highlight mode).

Audio Options

No Audio (Default)

Silent video suitable for adding your own music or narration.

Session Recording Audio

If you have a WebSDR recording for the session, overlay the recording audio on the video:

Audio is synchronized to the video timeline
QSO moments are aligned with the corresponding audio
Gaps in the recording are filled with silence

Background Music

Select from built-in ambient tracks:

Radio static - Atmospheric HF receiver background
CW practice - Generated CW audio at configurable WPM
None - Silent

Export Settings

Resolution

1080p (1920x1080) - Standard HD, smaller file
4K (3840x2160) - Ultra HD, larger file but sharper

Frame Rate

30 fps - Standard, smaller file
60 fps - Smoother animation, larger file

Duration (Highlight Mode)

Set target video duration: 15, 30, 45, or 60 seconds.

Thermal Monitoring

Video rendering is computationally intensive. Carrier Wave monitors device temperature during export:

Temperature indicator shows device thermal state
Auto-pause if the device reaches thermal throttling threshold
Resume when the device cools down
Progress bar shows rendering percentage

Performance Tips

Connect to power during long renders
Close other apps to free memory
4K renders take approximately 2-4x longer than 1080p
Real-time mode for long sessions produces very large files; consider highlight mode

Export Process

Open a session detail view
Tap Video Export (or share menu -> Video)
Select rendering mode (Real-Time or Highlight)
Configure map style, audio, and resolution
Tap Render Video
Wait for rendering to complete (progress bar shown)
Preview the video
Share via the iOS share sheet or save to Photos