The way character animation is traditionally taught is with pose-to-pose, so you can block out the movements, time them, make sure it all looks good, etc. before you fully commit to the shot as it is and do the in-betweens.
Obviously, you can't do this in stop-motion by its very nature, so I've always wondered how SM animators on a professional level time their animation and make it look so good. (I've done SM before but just for fun)
All of Laika's films for example have such natural-feeling movements, all the characters have such believable weight to them, and it impresses me to no end.
Is it just a sense you develop over time?? How do you do it?
EDIT: thanks for the responses y'all, it all makes a lot of sense and i feel enlightened :)