CGSociety has an interview with some of the folks at DreamWorks about the process behind creating the amorphous blob “Bob”.
Five different departments worked on the animation and look of B.O.B.. He was created and rendered entirely in proprietary software, using a new technology. The first decision was whether or not B.O.B. should be created through FX or as a character. In the earlier versions he was much more blob-like, more of a traditionally rendered isosurface, but within a few months it became clear that he couldn’t look like an effect in a world populated by the usual characters. Normally that would mean the design would be entirely an FX task instead of animation, but B.O.B. had to be treated as a main character and not as an effect, while still having character FX handling much of his technology.
