You are right, you can swap layers also from channel to channel.
Templates are normally made so, that they animate in and out. So it does not make sense to play (animate in) on the preview and then swap to the out, as then there is no animating in.
I see, that you still have the „DSK Fade“ workflow in your mind 
. These days are long gone and today the DSK is always enabled. Templates animate in and out by themselfs. But yes, I feel a bit nostalgig now 