I'm quite interested in getting Continuum Complete (http://www.borisfx.com/products/CONTINUUM_COMPLETE/bcc/premiere/)

I like the fact this powerful software intergrates directly in Premiere, do you think it's more powerful than AFter Effects, eliminated the need for an external compositor? Or am I confused? Is Continuum just filters and some more advanced keying? If I want full on compositing is RED the software from BorisFX I should get? I'm not sure with that either, is RED software that intergrates directly with the NLE, or does it video from the NLE have to be rendered and brought into RED like with After Effects?

I have complete for Premiere 2.0 and still use After Effects. But if you never used After Effects and don't intend too, it gives you some more AE type effect power.

$795 for complete for PPRO 2. I would suggest buying AE 7.0 instead. Just my opinion. Yes Complete also works in AE as well.

continuum is really a massive set of filters and transitions, and not a compositing tool. red is a powerful, fully-featured compositing app that can be launched from within premiere (or edius) timeline. i've worked a little bit with red in both premiere and edius. it is a boon for edius users, as they gain the ability to perform compositing and special effects work straight from within edius. but, i have to say, with the constantly growing integration between ae and premiere, and the debut of the dynamic link between them in the latest adobe video collection, working between the two apps is becoming seamless, and i'd suggest your time would be better spent learning after effects, a staple in the video industry, at least first. after you learn after effects, red's interface will not appear so alien and navigating it will probably go a lot smoother. both red and ae have similarly steep learning curves.