Buoy Normal/AO Maps

Textured in Modo 

Ambient Occlusion/Normal maps applied

AO map Modo

Items needed before starting: 
Low poly UV map

Be in UV View
Open the shader tab and copy the Final Color Output
Change the copy effect to Ambient Occlusion
Set Occlusion Range and Occlusion Rays (Ex. 256 Rays and 50mm Range)Should see shadows in corners and edges with little noise. Flat surfaces should be bright.
Select Render under Shader
Select Frame tab below (under the properties)
In frame dropdown menu make sure the dimensions are a square (Ex. 2048x2048 pixels)
Open the Render drop down menu at the top and select Bake to Render Outputs.
Switch render to AO
Save image

Normal Map Modo

Items needed before starting: 
Low poly UV map

Process: 
Create a material for the low poly
Open the Images tab (next to item list)
Add Clip > New Image
Name new image "Normal_2048"
Open Shader tab and select the material set for the Low poly
Add Layer >Image Map > load image
Set desired size (Ex. 2048x2048)
Select "Normal_2048" from earlier
Right click the Effect of the new layer and set it to Normal
Select the Material of the Low poly and set Smoothing angle to 89 degrees
Open the UV tab at the top to change to UV view.
Make sure High poly model is NOT hidden and is overlapping the low poly model
Select the Low poly in the Items List
Select the Low poly UV in the List menu (wont show unless in UV view)
In the Shader tab select your Normal map and right click >  Bake from Object to Texture
Set Distance to desired range
Set renderer to Linear from sRGB
Save Image
Check work by going to Render View and hiding the high poly model. 

Normal Map Maya

Process:
Set Menu to Polygons (Under File tab)
Open the Normals tab above
 Unlocked all Normals
Erased all history in the Edit drop menu
Freeze transformation in the Modify drop menu
Created two layers one for High Poly another for Low Poly with the appropriate items
Set Menu to Render
Hide High poly layer
Select all polys in the Low poly layer
Unhide High poly layer
Open  Lighting/Shading tab and select Transfer Maps
Highlight all polys in the Low layer
Open the Target Mesh and click Add Selected
Deselect Low Poly
Highlight all polys in High layer
Open Source Mesh and click Add Selected
Select Normal in Output Maps
Make sure High poly layer is visible and both Low and High poly layers overlap
Under Target Mesh switch all to Envelope (Red covers should appear on your low poly models)
Adjust sliders to envelope the high poly meshes.
Adjust normal map size and click Bake and Close