In maya you layout your uv's on an object very much as you do in max. There are a number of uv projection methods such as planar, cylindrical, spherical, automatic, etc..
You then use the uv editor to move, sew, unfold, the uv's.
You then take a uv snapshot and save this in a 2d image format like jpg. Open this in photoshop and paint your texture map using the uv snapshot as a guide.
Then back in maya you create a material using maya, mental ray, or vray materials, assign the texture map to color, spec, bump, etc..
Then assign the material to the components (faces) or object you wish.
For straight out procedural textures, you first create a material once again, maya, mental ray, or vray and just assign the material to your components or objects.
Maya has a variaty of material, texture, and utility nodes which allow you to create simple to very complex shader networks.
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675
Last edited by ctbram; 01-05-2012 at 05:11 PM.