Hasta La Motion!

So far i can count many different ways of transfering animation data betwen assets in Maya:

– Retargeting
– Non linear clips for characters
– Mocap
– Mel scripts
– There may be others

I guess all these different techniques aim at different needs. But i would like to compare them. For that i need your help because i have been studying Maya mostly from the teaching angle not really a professional user.

For you, which of those animation data transfert methods or technique is the best and if you only had to choose one, why would choose that one instead of the others?

Last but not least, what are the pros and cons of each of these techniques?

Thank you