It looks like you haven't learned the basic workflow. This should help http://cgi.tutsplus.com/series/an-introduction-to-uvmapping-in-3d-studio-max--cg-30940
In other forms of CG such as movies, Bump Maps are used in combination with Displacement Maps. The Displacement drives bigger forms, while the Bump is used for tertiary details.
Yeah, motion designers are awesome. That's what originally got me into CG, the desire to do that kind of work. Got a bit sidetracked into game development though. :)
The style of the characters was fantastic. I loved the way the vikings and dragons looked... it was really refreshing given some of the more reason styles chosen for CG movies.
Thanks! The sky texture is one from CG Textures, but heavily photoshopped to take a lot of saturation out, and then re-coloured to give it that heavily darkened look.
there is some Cg plugin for Maya, which gives equivalent functionality. http://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/shaders/3739.html or author website: http://www.asdn.net.cn/