Subsurface Scattering Shaders

Many real world materials do not reflect light at their surface, but scatter or absorb light internally. These optical properties, which are not adequately addressed by the commonly used illumination models in computer graphics, are called "subsurface scattering".

Subsurface scattering is an important element for rendering a variety of naturally occurring materials. Even tiny amounts of scattering enhance the apparent "softness" of the surface for many organic substances such as human skin. Subsurface scattering requires mental ray 3.3 or higher.

There are two separate sets of shaders and Phenomena to implement subsurface scattering: a fast, non-physical one, and a slower, physically correct one.

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