Wow, I don't recall what I actually read to learn the Animation Palette.  There must have been some resources back in the day that got me started.  Since then I've just played with the thing ... Most important thing is knowing the difference between the types of keyframes: Spline, Linear and Constant.  Splines frames can be great for those frames in between the pose frames you set, but can also create havoc.  When you move a figures arm up and back down again, etc., sometimes it goes way to far.  That's when you place a spline break.

As I said, I like to make pose sets so I use Constant keyframes to create a whole series of poses.  I also rarely take a single image from a scene file.  Using Constant keyframes on Cameras and Figures allows me to move through the scene and locate shots I like.  I almost always take four to eight shots.  I do some animation but not much anymore.

It does pay to have a good editor.  If you are using Vegas more power.

I'll look about for some tutorials and if I find some links I'll pass them along.  Good luck with your project.