tebop
Best of luck, your on your way to completing your project. I know very little about animation. But you have the important ingrediants to being a great artist. You know what you want, you can visualize what you want. and you have an intense drive to figure out how to get it. Not many people have that required passion. And, your not afraid to ask for help.  You are blessed. Another blessing is, that without a job, you can afford lots of time to focus on your project. And your computer will force you to learn to be creative and make the best of the resources you have. Also you have thousands of people on here to point you in the right direction when you get lost. Like any great photographer, Look at your situation from a diffrent perspective than others lol sorry for the pep talk.
Good Luck