What it is
Vsynth is a set of modules for Max/Jitter that behaves like a classic analog video synthesizer: oscillators, colorizers, keyers, mixers, and feedback paths you patch together into an instrument of your own design. Inside Max for Live it runs on a track and reacts to the music; inside plain Max it is a full video synthesis playground.
The ceiling is high. People build entire visual identities out of Vsynth patches, and the analog-video vocabulary (rescanning, feedback, keying) gives results that shader-based tools rarely reach by accident. The price of that ceiling is patching: this is a modular, and modulars reward people who enjoy wiring.
What it costs
Paid, sold direct. Runs in Max for Live on macOS and Windows, one of the few devices in this family that is not Mac-only.
Best for
Producers who look at a rack of video modules and feel joy. Anyone chasing the analog video-synth aesthetic without buying eurorack video hardware.
Skip it if
You want visuals now. A Vsynth patch is something you build and refine over weeks. Photism is the same track-device idea with the instrument already built.