Ambassador made very good suggestions. If you go with 3dgs then you are probably a hobby game-maker with a limited budget.

Max, Photoshop and Maya are really expensive except you only want to learn but not use them.

From my own experience I also can recommend:

1. GIMP / Inkscape
2,3. Blender
5. Audacity

If you ever become a power-user of those tools and you have a few thousand bucks left then you are ready to buy more expensive tools.

Then I would suggest:
1. GIMP / Inkscape / Photoshop
2,3. Lightwave, Bodypaint, Modo, ZBrush, Fragmotion
5. Sound Forge

But you will not become a better artist only through a software license. You still have to learn, practice and work.