If it was opened and processed in Inkscape, which I am exploring, there is a downloadable add on called “RemoveRedundant” which seemed to work for me.
Since it is legal to ask Dan questions, how long did that cut session last? I would like to encourage this sharing of experience which makes the GF real for us impatient bystanders.
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Is there a zoom on the cut simulator?
Excellent. That makes it useful. Never understood why all laser software designers don’t offer at least the option to speed it up.
What would be really cool would be the ability to alter the speed during the simulation. That way when it gets to a tricky place we could slow it down (even to slow motion speeds) to better see what it might be doing 
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Not a bad idea. It would also be great if we could jump to our areas of concern in the G-Code just to make sure we got it right. Jumping to certain areas of the G-Code comes in handy when I’m diagnosing issues on our plasma tables.
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I use Vectric Aspire for my CNC router and it’s preview mode allows adjusting the speed during the simulation. You can even single-step through each line of g-code. This flexibility has really helped me improve toolpaths before cutting. It would be great in the Glowforge offers that much flexibility in it’s preview function.
I dont’ remember exactly - I think it was the better part of an hour, but it should have been much less. It was set the a high res/slow engrave which took about half the time.
Great suggestions for the feature hopper. (cc @tony)
Glowforge takes in vector and bitmap formats and spits out plywood - there’s no middle G-Code step for you to inspect. 
The preview is generated from the electrical pulse signals that are also sent to the motors.
That said: I’ve never had the faintest need for most of this. Watching the preview is pretty comprehensive.
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Access to the process commands would be interesting but as I understand it, no gcode used in Glowforge and the actual commands might not be locally parseable. I’d say it might be hard to hack the process for control. It does seem that the design parameters and settings cutting and graving are to be highly tweakable.
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I know autodesk fusion 360 has a simulator for cutting(at least where CNC is concerned). So the idea is the same and could at least be watched to make sure cut path/passes over an area could be observed.
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The need for reviewing g-code is great for CNC machines and current 3D printer set-ups. I am pretty sure that one of the intriguing ideas behind the GF is all of “that” is controlled by the GF cloud service. Its the finicky, lets call it “Production Level Intent” fiddling around “to get things to work just right” is what GF is trying to do away with. It needs to be very automated, the setup and so on, for people to use en mass. There are probably many existing laser solutions that will allow, if not downright need, lots of fiddling to get things to just work right.
That’s so cool. I love getting a response directly from @dan.
I was just thinking of a useful tool of for any reason we had to stop cutting in the middle of a job and wanted to select a resume point in the program.
I also seem to hear the phrase “your the only one having this problem” a lot when I call tech support about issues. My shops at work abuse the heck out of equipment.
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That’s what I want to see - oops, it’s doing a raster engrave of this section because I bounded the objects wrong vs what I intended (when I nest objects within other objects). Or it’s doing a sunken engrave (letters or something recessed) vs a raised engrave (those things sticking above the surrounding surface) when I embed engraves within each other to get various depths of different parts of the engrave. That’s why I have to do a test engrave with all new designs.
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Is there some way to preview before cutting/engraving?
Dan says there is with the GF. Mine current ones have a simulation function but it’s not a full scale preview and I can’t vary the speed. What I’d like to see is the design with a red dot or something that traces the design lines so I can see where something goes astray (for instance moving from vector to raster) so I can fix it before I burn production materials.