Here an article and video of how they design predaking ....

Autobots Assembled: How Transformers Come to Life
Kyle Wagner


"So how are Transformers conceived? A lot like many humans, it seems: with some rough play and an exchange of body parts. At least, that's how Transformers Senior Design Director Josh Lamb and Product Designer Lenny Panzica did it, as we sat down with them in a workshop at Transformers HQ just outside Providence, Rhode Island, and started tearing apart old Zoids and Transformers."


http://gizmodo.com/5994962/autobots-...s-come-to-life