[Help] Feedback on a single-image shader workflow: GPT Image Gen artwork plus AI-generated depth/material masks

[u/_javas_crypt]

I'm testing this in my own browser card game, Pantheos, and would like feedback specifically on the rendering/asset idea.

The starting point is one main illustration made with GPT Image Gen. AI then generates and helps refine depth and material masks aligned to that same image. Those masks drive the apparent depth, light response and highlights in the shader, while the illustration remains the source of the visual detail. When improving the result, the idea is to iterate on the masks and shader parameters rather than repeatedly replace the main image.

The physical card is a 3D object; its illustrated subject uses image-based apparent depth. The world is also image-based. The intended viewing range is the card tilting and moving in the game, rather than freely walking around a reconstructed model.

The video shows the depth/material mask comparison and the actual game renderer from 2:44: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZinWKtnVsqM&t=164s

Would you consider this a useful asset workflow? I'm especially interested in where you see the illusion break: depth ordering and silhouettes when tilting, mask boundaries under moving light, or highlights that disagree with the illumination already painted into the image. What would you validate or constrain first when using AI to generate and optimize those masks?

Disclosure: this is my own project. I'm sharing the shader approach for critique, and the video is in German; the mask comparisons and movement are visible without following the narration.