Hi all, I was wondering if there was a way to simulate subsurface scattering with zbrush on both lightening and material settings, with full interactivity with lights angle ?
Like this one for example : (zbrush for the model, and photoshop for textures)
Hi Strike
Great side view 
Pilou
Ps Qu’est-ce qu’une sub surface scattering?
Une peau translucide ridée avec une lumière différente suivant la position?
Pss
Model Inspired by Leonard ?
That’s the Holy Grail, isn’t it? 
Sub-surface scattering and HDRI rendering.
I think you can get sort of close with the material-lighting, and then the only way to make it really great is with the Highlighter Brush and other ‘post-work’.
I love the mood in this image.
One way to fake SSS is to use a Glow light and place it on the area that would show SSS on the model. In your picture I would use the PLACEMENT button to drop an orange GLOW light onto the ear then mess with the fall of. It’s not perfect but it can help simulate it without resorting to post work. Also, mess with the apature settings and crank up the rays.
G
Here is a thread were we all explore this subject…Pix even gave us a new material to play with. For some reason, the thread doest seem to be working right now (go figure) but keep trying…there good test in there. Hopefully we might have some new material settings in the next version to help. I am pretty sure though that the answer is in one of those materials…you just have to play with them.
Frenchy Pilou : Yes that’s it ! SSS is a great shading allowing to have realistic skin for example. Thanks Not inspired by Leonard, but my unconscious maybe reminds this image 
Jaycephus : Ok thanks !
The Namek : weird uh ? thanks
southern : That’s exactly the explanation i was waiting. Thanks alot ! Your experience, is very helpfull !
Mahlikus The Black : well i’ll try later, coz apparently server has some troubles. Thanks anyway ! I saw you already did some tests with sss thanks !
awesome model strike! r u still using the demo? if u r, how did you import textures from photoshop? or did u just texture it in photoshop? and how do u get those really fine wrinkles? really impressive post!
artboy
artboy : Unfortunately, i still use the demo… This image is just a fake based on This thread.
What i did was just colorise under photoshop the model i had before (by screenshots) So it’s only 2D for the color textures.
I hope to test different things with external program (like lightwave) but i can’t export for now, so that’s why i ask for some help to fake SSS on a model under zbrush to have something like the image above. Thanks !
This was a sss test I did a while back. I will carry on with it now as you’ve got me thinking.
G
Southern: Good idea. I like ZBrush’s glow capabilities, but I’ve never tried to apply them to faking SSS, yet.
I think your render above would look convincing except for two problems:
The glow effect goes too far into the head and should be localized to the ears. As it is, it looks like a head of skin with no skull in it.
The glowing areas still have a strong sense of reflected light (light coming from the front and hitting the surfaces and bouncing back to the camera), instead of light emanating from the flesh itself.
Also, there is no back lighting that would produce the glowing ears. (I know, this is not really a problem with your model or its texture, but it would just sell the fake so much better if there was a strong light coming from behind the head.) Perhaps if the key light was raised up higher over the head so that the forward surfaces are more in shadow, then the light-transmission through the skin effect would be much more enhanced.
I really thought Azerty had a exceptionally nice technique in this thread.
Maybe combining the glow techniques with the ShadingEnhancer Brush technique would yield a truly great fake.
I definitely want to see a technique perfected and explained! 
I’ve been playing with this during my latest WIP. As has been mentioned a material with a complementing lighting setup will get you most of the way, but you will probably still need to do some postwork.
For the head below I used Mentat’s ColorizerTriShader Human Skin with a three point sun light setup. I rendered and then baked at 99%(see Layer Bake Blend Amount), this keeps the rendered colors but also keeps the material active(i.e it does not turn to Flat Color material). From here I just played around with different materials, their settings and the lighting until I got something resembling SSS (IMO :)).
Using colored lights at the key angles also helps towards getting “the” look. And of course using the Render Adjustments helps as well.
Brilliant ideas, TVeyes 
I am definitely going to try this out today. And even demo users can try this idea out.
It’s also got me thinking about getting the texture you create when you bake onto the model’s texture.
Do this process in side and front views on different layers.
Using the markers for the model (always mark your model’s position just in case), draw it on a new layer.
Use the Cloner Brush with TextureMaster to pull the baked textures onto the texture of the model. (Is there an easier way? I don’t think so, but this way is not really that difficult.
I think (?) you can clone through at a percentage, so you could use this technique to add as much of the effect as you desire to a previously textured model. It would maybe just be a bit more challenging to blend the seams of the cloned textures from the different views.
nice piece of wax work you got there Strike
TVeyes, I can’t easily figure out how you got that look with that material, especially with spot lights. Help…
Sorry did I say Spot light? I did mean Sun light. Sorry.
For some reason I always think of sun lights as being spot lights.
I’ll try and post a more visual description later today.
Hi Tveyes. Great lighting experiment. It lits
the whole object without disturbing effects
and makes it more alive. Great alien btw!
Did you use the material you posted as is, or did you change it. I assume you applied a base skin color to the model.