Advice Please, Beginner

[LollipopSucker]

So, i'm quite new to full body animation.I used to animate with sticks and sprites.I was told that sticks and sprites are not welcome here and i should try full body.So, before I started, I watched some animations.I was told that full body was very useless.After I have watched some of the animations here, I have found that it is quite interesting and creative.If someone can give me a list of tests i should do it would be greatly appreciated.And a question, to animate full body, should i use my tablet, or my mouse.
If you would like to see what kind of tablet i have, here you go.Thank you for your time and patience.
<a>http://www.amazon.com/Genius-MousePen -6-Inch-Graphic-Tablet/dp/B000LEI95I/ref =sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=126713 5128&sr=8-2

[Zyphonee]

That is a pretty decent tablet, I don't know why someone would tell you full body animating is useless, as a lot of actions have a repercussion on the full body, even if only a small section is supposed to move, there is some almost involuntary movement, so whoever told you that was either messing with you or didn't know what he was talking about.

As for tests you could try, I don't recommend skipping straight to animating if you're a starter, you'll only be disappointed with yourself, instead, try simply making drawings with motion, just one frame that shows a lot of movement, try some of these:

- Running
- Jumping
- Walking
- Heavyweight lifting
- Talking (not lip sync, whole talking pose, including hand movement)
- Throwing
- Punching

Practice just drawing a character doing that, not animating it, then you'll have to get a hold of timing and frame speed, you can do that by simply imitating the movement, but first try to get used to foreshortening, perspective and proportions.

[LollipopSucker]

Thank you very much.And this is a off topic question, how do I level up?

[Zyphonee]

by voting on movies, you earn 10 experience points for every 5 votes, but you can only get the experience once every day.

[PeterSatera]

Learn the principles, and include them in your animation.

Squash and Stretch
Anticipation
Follow Through
Staging
Ease in and Ease out
Overlapping Action
Exaggeration
Pose to Pose animation
Arcs

And so on. If you can learn and understand these, then your on your way to excelling the average here. Alot of people on NG's depend on tweens to animate, and forget all the principles, the ones that are appealing to watch are done by animators who research in how to animate well.

Good luck. Remember, get the motion done first then put in the detailing.