Let's first see how the true Subsurface Scattering node works in Cycles, and an example is given in the following screenshot:
To see how the true Subsurface Scattering node works, let's first use it as the only component of the shader, and later mix it with a basic diffuse-glossy shader.
Let's start by setting the Plane under Suzanne as a light emitter to enhance the backlight effect of the SSS effect:
Start Blender and open the
9931OS_07_start.blend
file, where there is an unwrapped Suzanne mesh leaning on a Plane, with two mesh-light emitters and the Camera as shown in the following screenshot:Go to Outliner and select the Plane object. As you can see in the Node Editor window, it has an already set material called
Plane
.Go to the Material window under the main Properties panel, and in the Surface subpanel, switch the Diffuse BSDF shader with an Emission shader...