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OpenTOonz is more than an excellent choice for classic 2d frame-by-frame animation. Even better than Toonboom Harmony in my opinion. You must keep in mind that OT is very much studio production level oriented, and it shows in the way an animation project is handled. Be sure to read the first couple of chapters of the manual (see link below) to wrap your head around the concepts as used in OT.


For more painterly backgrounds Krita is a brilliant side-kick. It can also be helpful to use a 3d application such as Blender and/or Sketchup to assist you in creating quick perspective mockups for overpainting in Krita.

Get the latest and greatest release of OpenTOonz here:

https://github.com/opentoonz/opentoonz_nightlies/releases

First, a number of OpenTOonz related Youtube channels are available:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLaNbnJtXu6j7o3Sy3eWIg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-t3I3gSAsZWsCvsxUkBZRA

The manual can be downloaded here (Harlequin was/is the commercial version, and OT is 95% compatible):

http://www.toonz.com/cgi-shl/download/71H/Toonz%20Harlequin%2071%20User%20Guide.pdf

Two good (paper) tutorials explaining both the paperless digital and paper-based workflow can be found here (includes exercise files):

http://www.toonz.com/htm/support/suppw.htm

http://www.toonz.com/htm/support/supTWtut.htm

A more active "official" forum for questions and support is here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!categories/opentoonz_en

As for your questions:

1. OT supports vector, "Toonz raster", and raster "levels" (the name used in OT for animated content). Bitmaps can be imported into frames. If you created animated assets in an external application (for example 3d animated backgrounds, or vehicles from Blender or a similar 3d app, or Krita background painted animations) these can be imported as a sequence of images using the following file name syntax: name.XXXX.ext (for example my3dcarAnim.0001.png, my3dcarAnim.0002.png, etc.). As long as you save your phone-shot photo sequences using this file name rule, you can directly import these in the timeline/Xsheet.
   
   
2. you can start an animation by sketching in a raster level, and then creating a vector level for inking/cleanup.
   
   
3. the latest beta version includes a quite flexible Camera Capture option: hook up a compatible webcam, and take reference shots (even entire sequences) with your web camera, and these shots are directly inserted as new frames in OpenTOonz. Useful for paper pencil tests, or reference shots. My Logitech webcam is directly supported in OpenTOonz. Super handy.
   
   
4. Importing QuickTime movies works for me. I have had little luck with AVI - too many variants of AVI out there. Do not expect stellar playback frame rates. It can be used for reference. I prefer to convert reference movies to PNG or jpg image sequences first myself, since playback is much faster.
   
   PS when you install Quicktime, PREVENT the player component from being installed. This is a known security risk. (I assume you will be working with Windows.)
   
   
5. Rotoscoping is supported (importing live footage as reference as explained in (4) and then increasing the opacity level of the reference footage. It is possible to draw over the reference footage this way.
   
   To learn more about traditional 2d animation techniques (timing, spacing, poses, inbetweening, and so on) I recommend getting the books by Preston Blair and Richard Williams, and Eric Goldberg. All three are/were masters of the craft.
   
   https://www.amazon.ca/Cartoon-Animation-Preston-Blair/dp/1560100842
   
   https://www.amazon.ca/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/B00HTJZS48/ (get the expanded edition!)
   
   https://www.amazon.ca/Character-Animation-Crash-Course-Goldberg/dp/1879505975/
   
   Sites of interest for the beginning animator:
   
   http://animationresources.org/
   
   http://www.animatorisland.com/51-great-animation-exercises-to-master/
   
   http://johnkstuff.blogspot.ca/
   
   http://cartooncave.blogspot.ca/
   
   And most importantly, have fun learning!