Sometimes in animation I need a lens flare to plus-up a project, but you can only modify the default After Effects lens flare effect so much before you need something more (and I never use the default flares without a lot of modification). However I've not yet had the need to spend a lot of money on a dedicated plugin, so this afternoon I did a quick test to see what I could do without a filter. Using only shape layers and expressions I was able to create an easy-to-use lens flare with very little hassle. I can foresee this method getting used for future projects.
