How do people do the lightning, smoke, fire, snow, rain effects?

I've been using Photoshop since I was 11, and I'm 22 now. I pretty much know everything about it, and everything you can do with it, including animations.

The one part that confuses me is the explosions, lightning, snow, etc. I believe it's "actions" and if I'm correct, is there somewhere to get them free besides paying on the websites?

 

I was told by someone else that it's called "actions" in Photoshop. It's like an animated brush.

 

most people here use After effects as mentioned above and then use fx packs to add particles, rain, fire etc.
Making Animated GIFs From After Effects Comps
link above shows how to export your AE comp to a gif.

 

it's particle effects, adobe after effects is the best option

 

There are several plugins for this in AE. But before I got After Effects, I just used mp4s which I downloaded from youtube. Search for like "Animated cartoon fire" and you'll find tons