When I create something in Houdini Apprentice, if I upgrade to Houdini Escape, assuming I did not use any of the Master features, would I be able to open up the Houdini Apprentice files and export them out to .OBJ or .FBX or would I have to recreate everything again in Houdini Escape.

Look up the “One Time File Conversion” description at the bottom of the page here:
https://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=589&Itemid=221 [sidefx.com]

Do you know if there is a limit to the number of files that can be converted or is it any number of files at that one time?

Another question I have is if I upgrade to Apprentice HD to be able to have better quality demos of my work, when I upgrade to Escape, does the 99 dollar fee for Apprentice HD get applied to that or do I have to pay the full price for Escape?

ryanzec
Do you know if there is a limit to the number of files that can be converted or is it any number of files at that one time?

It's mentioned as a “one time” conversion, meaning the latter. ie. when you buy a commercial license, you send Side Effects with all the files you want converted. After that, no further conversions will be allowed.

There's no mentioned limit but my guess is that you should try to keep the number of files “reasonable”.

ryanzec
Another question I have is if I upgrade to Apprentice HD to be able to have better quality demos of my work, when I upgrade to Escape, does the 99 dollar fee for Apprentice HD get applied to that or do I have to pay the full price for Escape?

I don't see any mention of applying the $99 HD license towards a commercial license. In absence of that, I would guess “no”.