One of the most complicated rigs Rhythm and Hues has ever built is the Octopus from Night at the Museum 2.  They sit down with CGSociety to discuss how it was built.

“The outer skin consisted of multiple layers of 8/16-bit displacement maps, created in Photoshop, and 32-bit displacement maps generated in Mudbox, ranging from the bumpy skin and veins, to the smoother tentacle bottoms, and the ridges of the suckers, to the wrinkles around the eyes and gills.”

via CGSociety – Night at the Museum 2.