Maya Texture Baking Help?

Hiyas all. I'm brand stinking new to Maya and a bit overwhelmed. I feel like I've searched the world over and can't find what I'mm looking for. Are there any tutorials for baking textures (preferably clothing) in Maya? I found the one that neph did using light wave and it was an excellent tutorial. Problem is I have Maya and there is no point in purchasing lightwave. So I need that tutorial but a Maya version. lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Same answer I always give for ALL beginning Maya questions:

Before you do ANYTHING else, go through the introductory tutorials in the Help file, in order. Unlike with most other programs, Maya's help is actually helpful. It will teach you what you need to know. Just be patient, and resist the temptation to go out of order. Let each lesson build upon the last like it's supposed to. By the time you're done, you'll know all the basics.

Maya can seem overwhelming at first because it can do so much. Try to learn it out of order, and I can promise you it will always seem that way. Take a few days to run through all the help tutorials in order though, and it will all fall into place for you. You'll still have lots more to learn, of course, but you'll know what you need to know in order to expand into more specialized areas.

I'd also suggest investing in a good book or two on Maya. There are tons to choose from. I recommend the Introducing Maya series from Maya press.

After you have the hang of Maya a bit, try this tutorial:
http://www.game-artist.net/forums/spotlight-articles/1317-tutorial-ambient-occlusion-maya-alchemist101.html

It works for any shader you have set up on the model, not just for ambient occlusion. So this means you ought to be able to put a texture you've made on your model, tweak the shader settings to how you want, and then bake it out like this. Personally I would bake out the shading and then paint under it in Photoshop, though. I'm not entirely sure you can change the colour of a texture in Maya - but then, I haven't tried.

I agree with Chosen, the Maya Tutorials under help are exceptional and actually fun!

Thanks so much guys! I will definitely try that Chosen. I did of course assume that they would not be very helpful and just avoided them. lol. Go figure. I have saved your link Ziibly. Its scary at the moment but hopefully those tutorials will help it make a bit more sense. hehe.