Absorption is used for simulating translucency. Unlike Sub-Surface Light Scattering (SSS, 3S), the light is absorbed within the subject instead of bouncing about and contributing to internal illumination. The following are various renders testing absorption with VRay. (Original renders were 4x as big.) “Venus” and “Athene” models are from the Deespona 3D model collection. “Dragon” and “Buddha” models are from the Stanford Computer Graphics Laboratory 3D Scanning Repository.

Rendered with VRay Advanced 1.09t.