Struggling to make 3D Character Animations

After seeing Rosa, I have been trying to make a short video using opensource/free software but I must admit that this is hard. I found Daz3d easy to use (compared to Blender etc) but then I have been unsuccessful in creating realistic motion. Even a simple walk cycle is difficult. I found a pretty neat run that was created quite a while ago using Natural Motion's software which is not available any more :(
I collected many links like http://www.posermocap.com/resources/ (nice info on clothing using Marvelous Designer)
I thought of capturing motion using software like http://www.kinovea.org or http://b-tk.googlecode.com/svn/web/mokka/index.html or https://www.cabrillo.edu/~dbrown/tracker/ and using with Daz3d's characters but in vain :(

Can anyone suggest how I can create or learn to create a short character animation? I don't care if it is 3D or 2D for now. Please share some ideas.

Introduction to 3D Modeling

As I started playing with the free version of Hitfilm 4 Express and after watching Simon's tutorials on Aeroplane and Atomic Particle Titles I was intrigued to try it myself. (Here are their other tutorials). But those features are not available in the free version and so I started to look for alternatives. Seems like good old Blender is the only capable tool and now I want to learn it...
Here is a wonderful tutorial by Jason Welsh that I found. Here is an article that highly appreciates this tutorial. Let me know if you know of any better tools or tutorials.

Here is another set of tutorials: http://www.creativebloq.com/3d-tips/blender-tutorials-1232739

3D Models for Compositing

Here are a few websites  from where you can get your 3D models:

• http://tf3dm.com/
• http://www.turbosquid.com/
• http://foundation3d.com/

You can find great stock pictures (still pictures) here:

• http://thestocks.im
• http://unsplash.com
• http://littlevisuals.co

Here is something totally different. Green screen plates:

• http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/
• http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/greenscreenplates.html

Enjoy!
I am not associated with any of these companies.