Rays is a simple plug-in from Digital Film tools that does one thing—create sunbeams—and does it very well. It works with a staggering number of programs, with a set of simple tools that give you a great deal of control of how the light is added to your image or footage. Just add the effect, tweak the controls, and be amazed.

Color is emotion. It’s one of the many tools a filmmaker can use to subtly control how the audience reacts to what they’re watching, whether to create a vibrant world where anything is possible (the inside of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory) or a dangerous, threatening one (Fight Club). If you need to do the latter, PHYX Color is a set of tools that lets you control the saturation of your video using a variety of techniques and filters.

In terms of playing with color, Luca Light Kit is the big box of crayons. The really big box. Taped together with a magic marker set. An effects set for Final Cut (Pro and Express), Motion, and After Effects, Light Kit lets you add, adjust and play with an amazing variety of colors and moods, improving and altering footage. At the most basic level, LK lets you add light to digital footage, letting you fix problems you didn’t see or couldn’t adjust in the field.

Editing is “the invisible art” because the better it is, the less the audience notices it. But there are times when maybe you want to add a lot of energy to a transition, or call attention to an edit for dramatic or comedic reasons. Or maybe you’re trying to recreate a music video from the 80s. Boinx FxTiles are a set of splashy transitions and video filters that give you just that.

One of the hassles of dealing with “pro” level software is that quite often it won’t do something simple you need it to because, well, that’s not how professionals do things. Video editing and effects can be a pain if you’re looking for a simple fix, or tools that are common in photo editing. Elasty HD is a box full of odd and useful things that can be difficult, impossible, or expensive to find in another application.