The truth is that SSS was used in the industry for the first time in early 2002, all the studios were testing it out. ILM tested it out and worked out the kinks to make it believable on the head of Anakin's digital double in Episode 2, and then perfected on Dobby. In 2002 Weta started using SSS on Gollum, in Weta's own words on the audio commentary on the Two Towers they finally got SS working and looking right by the end of the picture. I remember watching the ROTK and being ecstatic that they finally got it right. Gollum looked like a rubber prosthetic in the TT, and in the ROTK he looked like he had real skin.i think they used it in 2. the ears look like they use SSS in TT.
http://graphics.ucsd.edu/~henrik/images/subsurf.html
''It was also used to simulate the skin on Gollum in Lord of the Rings 2 & 3''
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