The submitted video pieces provide demonstrations of two machines commonly found in video reformatting labs: the Sony AV-3650 EIAJ open reel videotape recorder (1) and the Sony SVO-5800 VHS/S-VHS recorder (2). The goal of the first video is to offer an overview of this more rudimentary tape playback system, whereas the second video focuses specifically on the movement of tape through the more sophisticated transport on a VHS machine. These concise pieces offer basic but useful information about the components that make video recording and playback possible with these machines, and may serve as primers for anyone working with legacy AV materials or AV preservation technicians-in-training.