Hi,
Yes, of course it's possible.
1/ You need to use DirectLighting > GI_DIFFUSE or PathTracing/PMC.
2/ For a better result, you need a closed mesh. SSS material on open mesh will be treaten as infinite at the rear of polygons opposite to the camera by Octane. Usefull with a plane for fake local smoke, fog, etc. Semi closed objects will be wrong on the limits/borders.
3/ If you have a white color in Diffuse port, you'll see nothing because all light will be bounced/reflected (i don't know how to say that in english). The color you use in Diffuse will react with SSS too. A dark color or black is the easier way to begin.
4/ As you already know, you need to connect a node to the transmission or to add a color that's not black (to let light enter in the material).
5/ The density of the SSS is in global unit then, if you reduce or increase the size of your mesh, you'll have to adapt at least the density parameter.
6/ Absorption or Scattering medium need the same setup. Absoption is simply faster to render with less parameters.
Here three samples of Scattering and Absorption mediums
- Scattering medium
- Absorption medium
- Absorption medium with color in Diffuse port
I hope this will usefull.
