A method and apparatus for processing picture slices is disclosed. The method determines if the slice of the current picture excludes any predictive coding derived from another picture. If the slice of the current picture is designated to exclude any predictive coding derived from another picture, a flag is set to a first logic state, and if the slice of the current picture is not designated to exclude any predictive coding derived from another picture, the flag is set to a second logic state. Further, at least a portion of predicted weight processing of the slice of the current picture is bypassed according to the logic state of the flag.