Reddit reviews Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation, Second Edition (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation)

Too bad. :(

Well I highly recommend this book then. It covers EVERYTHING.

1. Whatever size you are comfortable with and fits your budget, really. Do you have plenty of cash, and are you doing a lot of detailed puppet design and motion? Then go as big as you'd like. Are you trying to keep things simple and cheap? Keep things relatively small (6-8 inches, but if you've got delicate craftsmanship you can make even smaller puppets). Some pre-made armature kits have set scales of puppet sizes for their product lines, but if you're making everything from scratch, the scale is up to you.
   
   
2. Best cheap/affordable material: aluminum wire and plasticine (oil based) clay (I would avoid Sculpey...it has a sort of frustrating "crumbly" effect at the worst times). Easy to order from many art/craft suppliers, and is one of the more common combinations. If you want to make human characters with cloth clothes, you should research foam latex for the flesh parts of your characters. Clay and cloth would get messy. How you want to animate will help dictate your material. Is there talking/expression changes? For clay that means re-sculpting each change or replacement pieces. For things like foam latex and other more permanent mediums, you are only left with replacement parts unless you're a wizard and can make detailed facial armatures for expression changes. =\
   
   
3. This, [this,] (http://www.amazon.com/Stop-Motion-Animation-Edition-Effects/dp/0240520556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346291030&sr=8-1&keywords=stop+motion), and anything you can get your hands on via googling techniques and forums, really.
   
   
4. I am so far from Amsterdam it hurts. ;)

Basically, you just need a standard camera. Stop motion, like other forms of animation, is essentially a series of stills, so you set up the scene, take a shot, move everything just -barely-, then continue on down the line.

If you're actually interested in doing this, I might suggest a few things. First, pick up a copy of The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams. It's an essential book on timing and basic animation principles that will help you immensely. You may also want to consider Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation to see how things progress and make sure you have a proper, showable film at the end.

Do know that it's a long, tedious process. But if you have a story you want to tell, it'll be pretty awesome. I just graduated with a degree in animation, and I happen to think it a wonderful artistic form that should be encouraged.

Both of the following books are pretty good at breaking down the whole process, not just the craft part of it.

Cracking Animation

Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation

Oh, then you would definitely use a plaster mold. UltraCal-30 is typically referred to as the finest plaster for molding, but you can get a away with anything. There aren't any hard rules.

This is a great book that covers almost every topic: https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Motion-Skills-Animation-Effects/dp/0240520556

I would also recommend using plasticine over sculpey if you're going to make a mold. The heat created as the plaster sets could harden the sculpey and make things a lot more difficult.