Particle transitions, backgrounds and lower thirds ...
 

Can anyone direct me to a good plugin for premiere or afterfx that can give me some good particle transitions, backgrounds and lower thirds?

I'm looking for somthing that's fairly automated and quick. I dont want somthing where i'm going to have to build particle effects from scratch. If i can adjust a few settings and let it rip that would be good for me.

I'm doing some promotional work for a fireworks company so i need some glittery firework like transitions but i dont want to put a lot of work into it because i dont have the budget or the time.

Please don't just direct me to adobe's plugins page, that dosnt tell me if the software is good or not. If you have personal experience with any program, that's the info i need.

Thanks

There's some cool stuff to be found at:

www.digitaljuice.com

Their selection of jumpbacks and canned graphics is pretty extensive, and their easy to use. It's just canned video, so you can import it and throw on to a timeline just like any other video clip. Gen-Arts Sapphire plug-in collection has some pretty cool things as well, although there's a little more tweaking involved.

As far as particles though, I think your best bet is to play around with some of the Animation Presets in After Effects. I've seen a couple examples from Boris Red/ Boris Blue that look kind of cool, but I personally never cared for the interface. Unfortunately, every time I've worked with particle systems, I've had to start with a blank slate. I've never had to create the same particle effect for different projects, so it always made sense to me to start from square one for each project.

Good Luck!

I can second DJ as a great resource for all you're asking for.

George/