You can use the Time Editor to remap animation from one object to another. Remapping takes the Animation Source for one object and uses it to drive another object without baking the animation onto either object.
To successfully remap animation from one character to another, the characters must have the exact same skeleton hierarchy (including the exact same bone length) and an Animation Source must first exist in the scene.
You can remap animation in the Time Editor two ways:
- By Namespace, which lets you select from a menu of Animation Sources in the scene. See Remap animation by Namespace
- Dragging an Animation Source from the Outliner onto a clip. See Remap animation with an Animation Source