This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/opensource by /u/Dovakin625 on 2026-02-04 07:30:32+00:00.

Hey everyone,

I never thought I’d be writing a post like this.

I have spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and use a power wheelchair. Typing and traditional coding are extremely difficult for me, and I don’t get out much physically, which is a big part of why I gravitated toward computers and technology in the first place. For most of my life, that meant “software developer” felt like a door that was permanently closed.

I’ve always wanted to help people—especially people with disabilities who have to navigate software and the web in very different ways than able-bodied users. That motivation is a huge part of why this project exists. I didn’t just want to make something faster for myself; I wanted to build something that respects different bodies, different inputs, and different ways of interacting with computers.

I’m also a video creator—and I was getting crushed by render times. A 6-minute GoPro clip taking 8+ hours in Shutter Encoder (sometimes much longer) was just not sustainable. So instead of waiting for existing tools to improve, I decided to try building something myself.

I used AI tools to help write the code, but I designed the system, defined the features, debugged the pipeline, tested performance, and drove the entire architecture.

Introducing FastEncode Pro

An open-source, GPU-accelerated video editor and encoder built with accessibility and performance as first-class goals.

What it does today:

NVIDIA NVENC GPU-accelerated rendering (properly fed, sustained encode)

NVIDIA GPU decoding (NVDEC) is already implemented

Timeline-based video editing (multiple clips, full timeline duration)

Noise reduction (especially tuned for noisy GoPro footage)

Deflicker for indoor/LED lighting

Deterministic CBR encoding (bitrate is actually respected)

Project save & load

Dark UI (because my eyes deserve mercy)

Accessibility features (in active development):

Dwell clicking (currently broken at startup)

Eye gaze support (code exists but is not yet fully wired in)

AAC device and switch-based interaction (foundation is in place)

Visual focus highlighting

Accessibility settings panel for configuration

Important note:

Right now, the branch that includes dwell clicking / eye gaze does not open the program at startup. This does not affect the rendering engine or encode pipeline—the bug is isolated to application initialization. I’m actively fixing this and will not tag a stable release until startup is solid again.

Performance:

A 6-minute clip that took 8+ hours in Shutter Encoder now renders in ~15–20 minutes, even with heavy filters enabled

A 10-minute 5K render completes in ~25–30 minutes on my system

What’s coming next:

Fixing accessibility startup logic (dwell / gaze init order)

Finalizing accessibility filter → render handoff

MKV video input fixes

Timeline auto-follow improvements

UI/UX modernization (it works great, but yeah… it looks a bit 1990s right now)

Windows support and packaging

The project is free and open source: 👉 github.com/cpgplays/FastEncodePro

This is my first real software project. I didn’t “just prompt an AI and walk away”—This took everything I had: constantly debugging, complete program breakages, and deep emotional breakdowns. and learning how video pipelines actually work. 

I’m sharing it because:

I want faster, more honest video tools

I want accessibility baked in, not bolted on

I want to help both able-bodied creators and creators with disabilities

And I want other people to be able to build on this

Feedback, issues, and contributions are genuinely welcome.

Thanks for reading—and thanks to the open-source community for being the kind of place where someone like me can finally release Something that is actually built for everyone.