A friend gave me a demo of some piece of software that uses standard video cameras.  I'm at work right now and I can't remember the software, but we did a test and works pretty damn well.  I think it might be a Maya or XSI plugin.

Anyway basically, you set up video cameras on your subject from different angles and record.  Then you load your sequences into the software, sync up a start point, assign bones and let it calculate.  You need at least two video cameras, and the more cameras you have the more accurate the software is.

We tested it with just everyday clothing, walking, hopping and such and it worked nicely.  We never tried exporting it or applying it to a mesh, mind you.  I've been meaning to play aroudn with it again, but haven't found the time yet.

We also concluded that it might be best to have someone wearing a body stalking or tight clothing of a solid colour and then to apply an opposite colour in lines and or dots (using tape) to mark limbs and joints.  Not required, but we figured it would help in getting a really good alignment from camera to camera.

This software can also be used in conjunction with green screening to record camera movement for later getting abackground to match in compositing.

Anyway, I'll have to double check what the software is.  Yeah, it sounds expensive, now to think about it.  I only played with the demo.

Cheers