Proper G-code viewer

Just wanted to ask if there is a "proper" gcode viewer for testing prints before sending them to the 3D printer. I have tested quite a few and didn't find a single one that provides an accurate preview of the finished print. The reason I am asking is because I noticed some cases where the generated gcode was flawed and ruined the print. This could be avoided and potentially save filament and printing time which I guess is good for everyone.

The initial post about "ugly top cover areas" describes such a case:
[forums.reprap.org]

I have created an animated gif showing the problematic layer for such a case. But as you can see, even with the "best" gcode viewer from Repetierhost, you can barely spot the offending layer...
[nicolinux.org]

Here is the printed result:
[flickr.com]


I have tried other visualisation methods with Blender and Paraview, but they are all unsatisfactory:
[flickr.com]
[flickr.com]


Thanks,
Stefan

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2013 08:19AM by Nicolinux.

I'm just curious, what is unsatisfactory about the Blender and Paraview renderings?

Also, can you explain more about what the differences are between the previews and the prints that are inaccurate? I've been using Repeater for previews with good success. I do find I sometimes need to adjust the width to height ratio in the settings to get a better preview.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2013 11:29AM by JohnSL.

Yeah, the preview looks like it correctly presages issues with the actual print. For such a shallow dome, I recommend reducing your layer height, and increasing the number of perimeters and top tolid layers. It's true that your slicer could be smarter about this, and many moons ago, I made a feature request for this, in fact: [github.com]

But you can easily fix the problem manually.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2013 12:32PM by Pointedstick.

@JohnSL: The Blender and Paraview renderings do not respect filament thickness and layer height. In this case I printed the object first and rendered the gcoded afterwards (that's why I even bothered to search vor a good gcode visualizer). With Repetierhost I can set the layer height, but I don't understand the "Width over Thinkness" setting. It seems to just make the lines thicker. I don't know if gcode supports layer height because that should be a combination of filament diameter and z height movements. But that's where a "proper" gcode viewer would come in handy (if it is possible at all...).

@Pointedstick: Thanks for the suggestion. I used 0% infill for easier visualisation because I was interested only in the top layers. But you are right, after some quick tests, more perimeters work well. I don't want to go too low with layer height yet because our printer isn't fully tuned.
About the feature request. Alex seems to have implemented another feature that solves this problem.
[github.com]

But I don't unerstand this feature. Does it just mean the bridge speed or are there other "bridge settings"?
However there is another feature that might be related. One can double-click the object in the "platter" tab. Then in the layers tab it is possible to set different layer heights for different heights. Haven't tried it yet (another reason why I'd like to have a gcode preview that respects layer heights).