I work with youth and create goofy videos for them once a week.

My normal method is using a GoPro Hero 5, upload the files onto adobe premiere pro and manually edit to what I want.

I have learned how to do the basics via youtube videos and tutorials (slow down speed, have videos on top of one another, text on video, dub over audio, fade audio video in/out, etc.) but some of the things can be so time consuming (i.e. having an effect follow a face on a video without having to move it frame by frame, the "write-on" effect without having to manually trace each letter in text) that I'm convinced that there has to be a good basic plugin pack that I can purchase somewhere that can cut down on the time it takes to do some "simple" commands.

This isn't the total extent to my knowledge, but I only know what I've needed to know and what has been simple enough to where it doesn't take 6 hours to edit a 30 second sequence.

Any suggestions for plugins for basic video editing? Places to look? Packages to consider? Plugins to look at? Is there a thread already in existence for this sort of thing?

I've never used Adobe Premiere so I can't help you there. My question is do you really need to pay for Adobe Premiere if your only doing basic video editing? There is a very good free and open-source program called Kdenlive that I highly recommend.

My office has a subscription to adobe - our marketing coordinator uses all sorts of things for graphics, photos, etc.

I'd also like to increase my knowledge with this program. Technically no one NEEDS to know how to work photoshop - you can do a number of things with the "paint" program, but photoshop allows you to do just a little more.

Also, I'll have to check that out as well - maybe a filler while I learn more about premiere!

The stuff you're wanting to do is really what After Effects is for.

You can do editing, color correction, scaling, and simple titles and effects in Premiere but AE is designed for more advanced effects and motion graphics. There may be plugins for Premiere but I'm not aware of any.

Also, for a fantastic free video editor check out Davinci Resolve.