# Does path tracer support subsurface profile in substrate materials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rendering\ **Tags:** subsurface, unreal-engine, Substrate, Path-Tracing\ **Created:** [January 3, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/does-path-tracer-support-subsurface-profile-in-substrate-materials/2689447 "2026-01-03T21:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kk13](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@kk13](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/kk13)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/does-path-tracer-support-subsurface-profile-in-substrate-materials/2689447/1 "2026-01-03T21:58:11Z")
When I render materials using subsurface profile with normal lighting, everything works fine. However, when I switch to path tracer, the subsurface profile has no effect at all. Is this because path tracer currently does not support subsurface profile in substrate materials? ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/0/3/9/0396466af71f0c198ed7ee1c14e40a1b617796c5.jpeg) ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/1/f/d/1fd0338047c9c8351a2a1278cb55a634f30e7aff.jpeg) ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/6/2/862c57f9454f6070a17f41cff2cf4996c4eeee7f.png) ---
**Author:** ![comlys](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/comlys/32/998665_2.png) [@comlys](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/comlys)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/does-path-tracer-support-subsurface-profile-in-substrate-materials/2689447/2 "2026-01-05T19:07:07Z")
We try to map the parameters we can, but since the algorithm is so different its hard to expect a perfect match. It’s basically just the mean free path that will matter for the path tracer.