Price change imminent?

[Hirazi Blue]

I just received a mail from a former reseller (where I am luckily still on the mailing list), warning me of a hefty price increase for Softimage and the Gold Subscription starting on the first of August. I haven't been able to dig up any confirmation of this. So could someone please confirm this?
(Or better yet, officially deny it ;) ).
The numbers (which I left out of this mail, as I haven't been able to confirm them yet)
I got in the mail were quite shocking to me...
(but I am merely a hobbyist on a tight budget).

[Paulrus]

Someone posted the same thing to the mailing list.

It looked like about a 30% price increase.

To me, that's enough to start looking at other options.

-PG

[Hirazi Blue]

The mailing list post (by Thomas Helzle) Paulrus refers to can be found here

To me, that's enough to start looking at other options.

Seems like a valid remark...

[Maximus]

i have no idea why they did this, i mean it must have a reason...30% is a lot of money.
I'm glad i've bought when it was cheap at this point..but still i dont understand what is happening, and mostly why.

[Paulrus]

funny thing is - what's the alternative? All I can think of is Lightwave for a main app and Houdini for effects.

I absolutely won't buy another AD product after this.

[Maximus]

IF i will ever feel the need to switch i will go probably Modo, but its not anytime soon.

[ThomasHelzle]

Here is the mail I got from my reseller - sorry, german:
------------------------------------------------------
Jetzt upgraden und 40%* Rabatt erhalten

Autodesk passt den Preis von Softimage zum 01. August 2011 an.

Die Softimage 2012 SLM kommt damit auf 3.300,00 € netto statt der bisherigen 2.305,00 € netto.

Die Gold Subscription wird ebenfalls angepasst auf 900,00 € netto.

TIPP:
Die Softimage Subscription vor dem 1. August auf bis zu drei Jahre erneuern und neben den aktuellen Preis von 615 € netto 10% Extra-Rabatt sichern.

WICHTIG:
Ab diesem Termin erlaubt Autodesk ebenfalls das Crossgrade zwischen den M&E Produkten 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage und MotionBuilder. Dies gilt nur für Kunden auf der aktuelle Version 2012.


Nur noch bis zum 15. Juli läuft die "Get Current" Promotion von Autodesk.
Jetzt also schnell auf 2012 Upgraden und 40% sparen.

Neu und besonders attraktiv ist das „Get Current“ Angebot für Kunden auf älteren Software Versionen. Auf den Legacy Preis, der ja schon rabattiert ist, gibt es ebenfalls 40% bzw. 30%, abhängig davon, ob mit oder ohne Subscription aktualisiert wird.
Gültig bis 15.07.2012.

Subscription Renewal Late Fee Waiver
Kunden können noch bis zum 15.Juli 2011 abgelaufene Verträge ohne Late Renewal Fee aktivieren, erhalten gegebenenfalls das Upgrade auf die aktuelle Version.

Upgrade von 3ds Max 2012, Maya 2012 und Softimage 2012 auf die Entertainment Creation Premium Suite für € 1.650,00 netto plus kostenfrei Übernahme der bestehenden Subscription Laufzeit. Auch hier endet die Promo zum 15.07.11.

Mehr Infos zu den Autodesk Promotions und Produkten erhalten Sie bei Ihrem Ansprechpartner
----------------------------------------------
Those prices are without VAT.

Cheers,

Thomas

[origin]

hmm why would they do that...although here xsi is almost 2x cheaper than max (~~5000e vs 3000euro~with subscription, buying from middle men)

[Hirazi Blue]

@origin - Well, it's not as much the price itself that hurts (although it does me as a mere hobbyist), it's the steep percentage increase (about 50% for Softimage SLM and about 30% for Subscription Gold) and the ridiculous short-notice. And the fact that this info has to come from one German reseller (my own current reseller, for instance, hasn't yet sent me anything), while Softimage - as usual - refuses to comment on grounds of "talk to your reseller" (Mailing List), doesn't help either...

("Slightly") cynical remark, (I couldn't resist): At least now I understand Jason Brynford-Jones' need for a "happy, happy, joy, joy" [*] thread at the Mailing List a little better...

[*] a "Ren & Stimpy" reference...

[origin]

Maybe they preparing something huge for xsi 2013 ;)

[ThomasHelzle]

you mean a working extrude tool?

Na, thanks, I'm out ;-)

Cheers,

Thomas

[Rork]

I had a short chat with my reseller after an email inquiry, and basically it confirms what we already know.

These prices are in euros for Holland, but it shows what's going on:

standalone goes up to € 3300,-
networked version goes up to € 4125,-
subscription is upped to € 900,-

And there's the option to cross-grade to a suite with max or maya, mudbox and motionbuilder.
With Softimage already up and running this will cost € 1650,- to get the suite, with an additional subscription fee of € 1100,-

If you just want to extend your subscription, there's a 3 year offer based on the old price, minus a discount. This probably will depend on dealer and country too.

And this is all locked to the 1st of August.

But we don't need food, just software... right??

rob

[Hirazi Blue]

The question remains what this means for the status of Subscription. At the moment there is only one sort of Subscription available to Softimage users, the Subscription with Gold Support. As I have read people on the Mailing List defending the new pricing scheme as being in line with a uniform pricing between Max, Maya and Softimage, one would hope, this new uniformity would give Softimage users access to the basic Subscription Max & Maya users seem to be able to enjoy.
To some/most of you this new pricing scheme might not be a big deal. To me, however, this price increase potentially might just end my time in the "wonderful world" of Softimage abruptly (hobbyist, tight bugdet, yada yada yada...)

One gets the impression that a sidegrade to Max or Maya accompanied by basic Subscription would be a better deal in the long run from a purely financial point of view...

[Rork]

As I can understand a 'leveling' of subscription prices, I don't think most of us shrug it off and happily pay the new prices.

Most of us on this list are freelancers, or run small businesses, and due to the economy things aren't really that easy right now.
The time of big(ger) budgets is way behind us, so any major upgrades in license fees -is- a big thing.
Especially as most of us don't run -just- Softimage to get a job done. And all that software has maintenance, upgrades to pay for etc., so it end up quite quickly.

It looks like AD is adopting the Adobe strategy of doing business regarding the 3D apps, and buying into a Suite is more interesting money wise than just the stand alone application.
It's a shame there's not a lot of choice, I would like to see 3D only Suites, SI-Max or Maya-Mudbox for instance. I really don't have a purpose for MotionBuilder....

But even than, upgrading will be a lot of money every year, and like with Adobe, at a certain point new features of app X don't make any sense for your work. PS CS2 might just do the job just fine. And skipping a Suite or two because of this is can be a calculated decision regarding Subscription renewals.

I think it's clear we don't like it, and we really would have seen this coming months in advance instead of a three week notice, with a deadline attached to it.
I'm not sure what to do yet, I might just let it 'slide' this year, as all the stuff I need is there feature wise. We'll see what happens with SI 2013......

rob

[Hirazi Blue]

My remark about "some/most of you" wasn't meant to insult anyone. If it did, sorry!!! I just wanted to make my personal POV (the new price is above one monthly income for me) come across & the reason why I am really struggling with this (and trying hard not to get mad about this).

[Rork]

I'll start adding smileys again to my replies