I work for an artist and am trying to figure out the best software to get for him (though I'll be the one working on them). He just bought both a CNC machine and a Makerbot. I'll be taking his sketches and making designs from them. For the Makerbot, what he'll be printing tends to be cartoon-like and relatively simple, although he very well could go into more complex objects. For the CNC, I think we'll be routing simpler shapes and text. He also wants me to look into a handheld 3D Scanner. I feel overwhelmed, having no CAD experience. I have some graphic design practice, just simple stuff in Illustrator and Photoshop. I have played around with a couple of free trials of programs: Sketchup and Sculptris. I had a very frustrating time with Sculptris (sculpture based, starting with a ball of clay). Sketchup felt a lot better (additive, geometrical). There are plenty of other programs I know about, but we need to make a decision soon on what to buy and I don't have time to learn 20 different interfaces.

What's a good design program that can also export to G-code for a CNC machine, for someone who has never done 3D modeling or CAD? We cannot afford Maya. Is Rhino still popular, and is it user-friendly? It's been difficult to ask anyone about it since I'm his only employee and I don't know anyone who really works in this field.

Any help I can get, or a basic run-down of different "categories" of programs, would be very helpful to me!
And as a sidenote, if anyone has thoughts on handheld 3D scanners, please share!

Thanks,
J