Is there anyway to fix the out of memory problem that happens when I try to load too many maps at the same time?

If I have 20 or 30 maps to process, I can only do them in groups of 5-6 at a time because the application runs out of memory and won't add anymore to the batch.

Is it necessary to load the entire image into memory before it is time for it to be processed?? That seems to be the problem.

Thanks.