Compositing
 

I don't know if this is the correct place fo this but, I was wondering how you would composite and animation with real video footage, so that the animation would follow the actions of the character in the film.

you need some app that does motion tracking. Prefitably for most uses maya live, comes with maya unlimeted I belive. Don't quote me on this. I'v just heard enough I feel like its a good direction for you to look in to.

You will need a compositing program like combustion or adobe after effects. You could time the animation to the real life video through trial and error, but you would still have to put them together.