Model Structure

The model and rig are stored inside a master Empty object that controls the up/down movement of the swimming animation. This empty is designed to control the location and rotation of the octopus moving around your scene without cluttering the armature's timeline. 

The armature holds the swim animation as an NLA strip. This animation loops seamlessly at 76 frames and works well when sped up or slowed down.

*FBX note- the included FBX file is optimized for importing into Unity. (Y-forward, FBX units scale, NLA strip animation labeled and stored)

The shapekey animations are keyed on the mesh's main timeline. Breathing animation starts with the funnels open by default (inhaling) and the shapekey influence closes them (exhaling). Skin animation starts with skin closely hugging the tentacles, and as the shapekey influence increases, the skin slides down and away to fill the gap between the tentacles.

Materials

Includes 4K color, normal, and subsurface maps. The subsurface map highlights the edges of tentacles, suction cups, and the squishy flesh around the eyes. It can be used as is, or passed through a math node to provide a flexible amount of subsurface scattering depending on your desired look.