Depends on the software you are using. When the characters are based on the same basemesh it should be easy to transfer the skinweights from one to another.
How was the rig created? That will dictate how you go about the transfer. Do you have animation on the old rig that you want to transfer to the new one? Walk and Run cycles ect...
It can make bipeds and quadupeds, really just about anything you would want to make.
In AS it's easy to reposition the controllers/joints for a new character you just turn on the fit skeleton, reposition and rebuild the rig. But really, it builds rigs so fast you don't really need to recycle, you can just drop a new fit skeleton in your scene and have it build a new rig.
Using thequick Rig Tool(s)inside of Maya is a good quick way to rig up your characters too. Its a one button rigging/skinning solution that usually gets it close enough for. If it works, great. If not then you have to go the step by step method which lets you place the joints before building the rig. Because it is part of HIK it works with mocap and libraries of animation files easily.
There are a few pitfalls to quick rig: It only supports bipedal characters, if you have a quadruped you're SOL. It doesn't support fingers or toes. You can add them on after the fact but HIK won't recognize them.
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Do you have animation on the old rig that you want to transfer to the new one? Walk and Run cycles ect...
I personally like using Advance Skeleton
In AS it's easy to reposition the controllers/joints for a new character you just turn on the fit skeleton, reposition and rebuild the rig. But really, it builds rigs so fast you don't really need to recycle, you can just drop a new fit skeleton in your scene and have it build a new rig.
Using the quick Rig Tool(s) inside of Maya is a good quick way to rig up your characters too. Its a one button rigging/skinning solution that usually gets it close enough for. If it works, great. If not then you have to go the step by step method which lets you place the joints before building the rig. Because it is part of HIK it works with mocap and libraries of animation files easily.
There are a few pitfalls to quick rig:
It only supports bipedal characters, if you have a quadruped you're SOL.
It doesn't support fingers or toes. You can add them on after the fact but HIK won't recognize them.