Best way to create LODs for both static meshes, moveable meshes, and animated characters?

I haven’t done much with LODs in the past or simply ignored it since most of my projects are very small and it doesn’t really matter but I have been doing a larger environment art project in UE4. I want to learn more about LOD’s best practices. I know what LODs are and what they’re good for. One thing that confuses me about the creation process of making LODs is what is the best way? Should I manually create them inside of Blender (don’t have Maya - can’t afford it)? I know that Unreal acquired Simplygon LOD software and integrated it into UE4. Would that be the best way of generating high-quality LODs for your meshes including moveable / animated meshes such as characters or static objects of any kind? What is the industry standard for generating LODs? I know that Unreal Engine 5 is basically making this automatic and a thing in the past but for now, it’s still good to know how to make LODs, imo.