Some animators are devoted to the practice of bolting the feet of their armatures to the floor of their set, a process referred to as “tying-down”. While this works well for large or cumbersome armatures, it requires a lot of work and will leave holes in any areas where the feet were previously bolted down.
There are secrets to moving you characters around without having to bolt them to the floor. Not only will they take less time, but you will find it easier to manipulate the movements of your armature.
Sometimes, a little weight will work wonders. If your figure is relatively light, you can construct the feet out of harder polymer clay. Make the feet larger and longer than they would normally be, in order to provide a larger base to support the rest of your figure. Insert something heavy into the feet in order to weigh them down, such as a bolt or a nut.
Use thick (but still malleable) wire in the legs of your character. Not only will this act as supporting weight for the feet, but you will be able to bend and flex these appendages throughout the movements of walking and they should be able to stay airborne long enough for you to shoot your frames.
Try to make the top half of your armature as lightweight as possible. There is no hard and fast rule that says a character has to be completely constructed out of clay, plaster or the like! Remember the art of illusion, and give your barrel-chested figure a hollow trunk with fillers like foam, paper or even foil! The more lightweight your character, the more options you will have as a filmmaker.
Experiment with Magnets! They can be used to great effect. Try using a thin sheet of metal for the bottom of your set, and place magnets within the armature