I use AI for vectors and yeah, it's a little clunky in some areas. Granted I'm still using CS3. Can you give some examples of scenarios where CorelDraw works better? I'm curious.
For 3D modeling I was taught on Maya and unfortunately most of what I learned about it in college didn't stick. Maya drove me crazy with its numerous layers of menus and strange keyboard and mouse shortcuts/commands, especially for animating. When I picked it up again cold recently, the software mostly just confused me and I didn't get too far before I suspended the project and lost interest. Is 3D Studio Max easier to use than Maya? And when you model do you use nurbs or polys? Nurbs seem to produce much smoother surfaces but I could never make sense of them enough to utilize them.