Hi, I'm interested in trying to build up a kit of various lens effects in COPs. A starting point in what I'd like to aim for is Redshift's very awesome postprocessing COP, which lets you enable or disable individual effects like diffusion, bloom, flare, etc. I'd also like to do some stuff I've seen in Premiere/Aftereffects lens flare plugins like dust on the lens, anamorphic flare, etc.

I realize this is an uphill battle. What I'm interested in finding are some resources that might outline how effects like this are built up from first principles in compositing packages elsewhere...things like nuke gizmos, old compositing books, etc.

Compositors who have been doing this for a few decades: how did you build these back when they were painfully uncool?