After Effects is one of the leading softwares in the CG industry. And having a massive third party plugin base increases the capability to a large extent. There are a variety of paid and free plugins for AE. Here's a list of plugins that would really enhance your workflow.
Video Co-Pilot Optical flares: If you're a motion graphics artist, you probably use flares all the time. This is a plugin which made me go nuts when I first saw it. The variations that are available with this plugin are almost infinite. There is a lens flare plugin from Genarts Sapphire which is also great but the VCP user interface is friendlier and has better presets.
Trapcode Particular: The best plugin that is available for generating particles. There are a couple of other plugins including the default particle emitter in After Effects but they don't get anywhere close to the capabilities of this one.
Trapcode Form, Mir and Tao: I know. I know... These are three different plugins but they are kinda similar in a certain way. First of all they are all made by Trapcode. All three are capable of being used to create some cool looking abstract backgrounds. And all three are sorts of particle effects where the particles aren't generated by a source. All of them already have the particles in the scene by default and all you can do is modify the existing ones. But the three in isolation or together are able to crank up mind blowing effects in their own unique ways. I don't use much of Mir
Video Co-Pilot Element 3D: Another genius plugin by Andrew Kramer. At every point of the first tutorial of this plugin, I was getting more and more excited about the possibilities of this plugin. This plugin adds something that the default plugin or After Effects has not been able to present. And that is THREE D. While it isn't a replacement for a 3D software, you can get some pretty great effects with this plugin. And all of this happens IN REAL TIME. The rendering is fast and crisp, the work flow is pretty friendly and the effects are amazing. And to add a cherry to the icing, there are a lot of pre created 3D model packs.
Rowbyte Plexus: I am guilty of over-using this plugin at my work place. But you can't blame me. It just looks cool. And the best part is that it doesn't take a lot of time to make it look cool. There are a lot of things you can do with Plexus, even use OBJ models to get super awesome effects.
RSMB by RevisionFX: I can't tell you how many hours of render time I have wasted rendering motion blur before I knew about this plugin. If you are working with CG on live action or even want to save on a lot of render time and costs, this sweet plugin is something you want on your machine. It isn't something that can get you the required results every time you use it. But it will save plenty of render time to be noticed and loved.
Twitch by Video CoPilot: This is a handy plugin for those rare shake and distortion projects. The effects created by this plugin aren't to difficult to create with some effects, key framing and expression, but this one makes things easier. I use it all the time.
Twixtor by RevisionFX: This company definitely has some seriously interesting plugins. While I don't use Twixtor all the time, it has certainly saved my life a few times. If you need slow motion shots, you have Twixtor for your rescue.
Edgeflash by Sapphire: I use this compositing plugin to composite all my CG shots with live action footage. It reduces the distinction between a render and shot footage. Very handy. Also if you have this, it means that you have the whole Sapphire package. It contains plenty of effects and plugins to help you, whether you are a motion graphics artist or a vfx artist.
Saber by Video CoPilot: A plugin that can make stuff look really cool real fast. It also comes bundles in with plenty of presets which can simplify things. And the best part. It us absolutely free.
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