you said it yourself
seeing this episode as a "trial and error", the animation was not perfect but it was nice, storywise...this was more like a short teaser movie than an actual episode, characters were well made, the only problem is the sound but since you are off to get a new one i dont see it as any major thing.
well, as you said its being a learning experience and i really think that it has some serious potential as you get the hang of it.
hoping to see more of it!