Pot Odds Help for a green newbie

[kamelion44]

Hi all, I was wondering if you could run a quick course in pot odds and probability for a beginner poker player. I went up around $1400 playing 2-4 and 3-6 Limit, but I have since then lost a large portion of that playing No Limit and Tournaments...but I have become convinced that I don't understand pot odds, or the formula I had been using, I had the variables/terminology wrong, and therefore am calling/raising in incorrect positions or by incorrect amounts, and this is especially terrible in tournaments when mistakes are so costly and in NL when I can really screw up with that much betting freedom...can someone just run the basics by me (even things as low level as: if I have an open ended straight draw with a rainbow flop...that's 8 outs, for something like a 34% possibility of making my straight which I'm confident will be the nuts...and say the pot is $12 and a guy makes it $4 to go...what's the exact formula for decision making here?). Thanks alot in advance.