There’s a lot of After Effects plugins out there. Which ones should you care about? Below is a list of the five plugins that should be a part of any serious motion designer’s tool kit. You’ll notice these being used by professionals across the industry! Click on an image to see the best available pricing at Toolfarm.

One of the most versatile plug-ins After Effects has ever seen. Particular is a particle generator that gives you unparalleled control over particle dynamics, including: shading, turbulence, physics, z-space movement and much more. I’ve been able to use this for all sorts of things, such as creating dust, smoke, light trails and maneuvering a group of custom graphics.

Creating smooth gradients in After Effects can be a pain, especially when you’re trying to make a lot of them! If the built in ramp effect isn’t cutting it for you anymore, check out YY_Ramp+. It delivers intuitive functionality, such as: adding blend modes; smooth interpolations, ramp noise to avoid banding and a simple invert switch to swap color selections.

This revolutionary plug-in adds efficient 3D functionality, right inside of After Effects! Element 3D allows you to extrude custom text, shapes and even import pre-built 3D models, with support for OBJ, FBX, C4D, 3DS Max and Vray. The real beauty of it all, is how simple and quick it is to use. You can extrude, texture and animate custom 3D models in just minutes.

Taking strokes and lines to a whole new level. 3D Stroke brings your mask paths to life with lines that can glow, taper and move through 3D space, as a built-in camera lets you capture the action from any angle. It allows for easy duplication of strokes, so you can create complex scenes in no time.

By far the best way to create flares within After Effects. Once you start using this plug-in you’ll quickly notice that these are the same flares used in popular Hollywood movies, such as Star Trek. Optical Flares gives you detailed control of it’s presets and the ability to create your own flares from scratch.

What are your favorite plug-ins for After Effects?

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