Hi Ulfert,
Please have a look here:
https://www.cineversity.com/learn/character_rigging
I have moved your post to the Q&A, because any post created in the Tutorials forum should be only created with the Help button near the specific tutorial-clip itself. This keeps things clear and organized.
If I do missed your point, that you would have rather moved it to Cineversity site issues, please advice.
I think it is a fair assumption that the QuickStart guide was read already, to get an idea about C4D’s way of doing things.
Bret’s tutorials are normally seen as excellent, after all he worked on movies who got oscars, and is since quite a while in the industry. However, if that series is the best to start is certainly worth a discussion, while the text that describes the series shows (at least to me) some direction for a user not new to this.
The simplest way, is the Character Object, top of the list in the given link above. Yes, it allows to do this without even understanding key features of this work, like weighting and joints, Xpresso, etc. But it gives an idea about what is possible.
For any request of such a tutorial, please use the Tutorials Suggestion Forum. I’m certain, if other join that thread in agreement, chances for a new series will be better.
What would I suggest, Take a few joints and bind them to a simple object, explore that, try to break it, etc. Try to paint weight on it. Perhaps just watch the series to the end from Bret, to get an overview.
YES, Character animation is a wide and based on one’s target even a complex field. The resources, speaking about books, are also very limited.
My best wishes for your exploration