So I got this call from Autodesk. 1.600€ for the suite and 1.100 for the subscription for all packages from next year on. Should one invest in the suite when one already got zBrush, LW, Modo and Softimage? And if so, Max or Maya?

On the other hand I wonder whether investing in Arnold makes more sense, though it'll cost at least 3x the amount of money.

So far I'm doing only print ads, but rendering in Vray might be interesting.

Anybody who already upgraded?

Cheers
Thomas

The main question seems to be, IMHO: do you really want to (have to) learn yet another software (judging from the impressive list you already own). Mudbox and Motionbuilder might be interesting (although ZBrush seems a good alternative to Mudbox, obviously), but given the three generalist packages (be it Maya or Max), do you really need another to accompany Softimage?
Mind you: these are attempts at sincere questions, not implied answers...

Dont think you would have some use of Max or Maya without their plugins (fume fx, krakatoa, renderman, wich anyway costs a lot, etc)
You already own excellent softwares for everything, zbrush is more complete than mudbox, especially for modeling/brushes/details, mudbox is a little better for the texturing process but not for long i guess

To me Modo is way better than 3ds Max without plugins, its cheaper and more modern.
I guess it depends on what use you have from those software, but as i said your setup is already excellent, doesnt feel like you would need anything else, if not just a render engine.
In wich case, Vray is coming for Softimage before the end of the year probably, Arnold is unknown to me so i cant speak about it.
Mental Ray is dead in my opinion, it has too much to catch up now.

Again it depends what are your needs tho:)

And another thing: is there a reasonable option to downgrade back to "just" Softimage,
if you decide after a year or two, you don't need the others as much as you thought?
(I mean: Would you have to pay "uniform upgrade price" + "subscription" again to rejoin the Softimage "fun"? Or would your fee be less?)

You just nailed it. There's no time to learn yet another piece of software. Even SI is still pretty much a mistery too me. Except ICE. Point is whether it's worth to invest in order to be able to use special features in those packages, e.g. a renderer, hair solution or something else. In the end you'll pay a bit more for the subscriptions and the price itself.

So rendering in MR is something I'm a bit afraid of, so Arnold is obvious something which interests me, but the package + Vray might be also a good solution?!

From what one hears, Arnold is "something else" (but I can't confirm or deny this),
but VRay for Softimage should prove to be a very nice improvement to Softimage as well (again: hearsay/rumors!).
Don't rule out 3Delight for Softimage either,
it currently having the slight advantage over the other two in that it's actually available...
Rumor (and again: just a rumor ) has it that VRay will be ready around the end of the year
and no one seems to know officially when exactly Arnold will be released and in what form (licensing-wise).
Oh and don't forget 3Delight can be easily and painlessly tested using their "free for 2 cores" license.

I thought the modo renderer was great for print ads?

Like the one from LW. But hair sucks in both apps. Need to find my way into SI hair yet.

You dont need it especially if you are doing print. I on the other hand just upgraded in August and my $795 msint for SI will cover all the other products for the year. I already know maya ( dont like to use it) and I need Motionbuilder for a personal project/ Will test out mudbox for texture painting but really want to learn Z brush for modelling etc. I felt it was a good bargain so I went for it. So far so good. Its a biz expense anyway.

As a generalist freelancer I have encountered all sorts of different projects. But I have yet to come across a project that makes me think "oh, how I wish I had access to Max/Maya now".
The only other 3d app I use is Mudbox. But since you have ZBrush you're good to go.