I created an armature tutorial over the weekend for those of us who want a relatively strong armature but don't want to rack out hundreds of dollars for a professionally built one.

You can find and download the tutorial at scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34191994/Armature-Tutorial

Feel free to post flaws, suggestions, or, animations made with the tutorial.

READ THIS FIRST:
There are some things to keep in mind when making this tutorial. One, you might want to explore different types of washers than the metal one I used (such as lock washers). Two, glue the one-axis eye screws into the dowels so they don't accidentally turn during animation (the foot screw is most likely to turn during full stride). Just ensure that joints at the shoulders and hips aren't glued in, since the screw itself becomes a rotating axis. Look through the comments below, which share some other useful tips.
-Jesse O.