Innovations described herein provide a generic encoding and decoding framework that includes some features of simulcast and some features of scalable video coding. For example, a bitstream multiplexer multiplexes component bitstreams into a multi-layer encoding (MLE) bitstream that provides temporal scalability, spatial resolution scalability and/or signal to noise ratio scalability. Each of the component bitstreams provides an alternative version of input video, and a given component bitstream can be a non-scalable bitstream or scalable bitstream. The multiplexer follows composition rules for the MLE bitstream and may rewrite values of certain syntax elements of component bitstreams using an approach that avoids bit shifting operations. A corresponding demultiplexer receives an MLE bitstream that includes component bitstreams and demultiplexes at least part of at least one of the component bitstreams from the MLE bitstream, following decomposition rules for the demultiplexing.