After Effects users - remember your Cycore!
The most common issue I find from beginner to intermediate AE users is the fact that they haven't installed everything that After Effects comes with. With AE 6.5 and 7.0, you have three distinct plugins that you should be installing into your system: Cycore Effects, Keylight and Color Finesse. For the beginner, Cycore is the most handy of the three because it's a bunch of fun effects, many very useful, some not and some just eye catching.
It's on the After Effects CD, just pop it in and click 'install 3rd party plugins'.